High school football: Jaheim Atkinson rushes for 291 yards as Elyria runs Midview ragged

ELYRIA — Jaheim Atkinson fell just short of the school's single-game rushing mark and Elyria moved two wins away from the 600-win plateau Saturday, pounding out a 50-28 non-conference win over Midview at Ely Stadium. Atkinson, a senior, carried the ball 29 times for 291 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Pioneers (2-7), who rolled up a season-high 424 yards on the ground. Tony Godbolt Jr. set the school record of 303 rushing yards in 1989 against Vermilion. Atkinson surpassed Ike Maxwell's 278 yards against Admiral King in the 1971 season to claim second on the single-game rushing list. Most of Atkinson's rushing yards came on the same play ... a simple power run behind senior right guard Kobe Thomas. "It's the best feeling in the world, knowing we keep running the same play and it's because of me," the 6-foot-2, 376-pound Thomas said. "It's amazing, especially when I see my dude Jaheim running down the field for a touchdown. The running backs make me look good because they hit the holes and run so hard." Elyria got the ground game going early, taking the opening kickoff and driving 73 yards ... all via the rush ... to open the scoring. Junior quarterback Desmond Whitfield, playing in place of regular starter Daylan Sharlow, who missed the game with a shoulder injury, capped the nine-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. The Middies (1-7) went three-and-out on their first possession, and a poor punt gave the Pioneers the ball back at the Midview 31. Two plays later, Whitfield made it 14-0 with an 8-yard touchdown run. Elyria added a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, a 43-yard burst from sophomore Lance Glover and a 4-yard run from Whitfield, to take a 28-0 lead into halftime. The Pioneers rushed for 216 yards in the first half. "We didn't do a good job at the beginning of the year establishing the run," Elyria coach Devlin Culliver said. "We knew we had to keep the ball on the ground. We have two great running backs. ... Atkinson is an all-state running back and we have a big offensive line. "We should be able to come out and move the ball on people and that's what we did. I'm happy about that because you control the game that way." Midview showed some fight in the third quarter. Bryce Newton returned the second-half kickoff 67 yards to the Elyria 18. It took the Middies three plays to find the end zone, with quarterback Ethan Surdock rumbling in from 7 yards out. Mason Kucera then intercepted a Whitfield pass three plays later, and it took Midview just four plays to cut the Pioneers lead to 28-14 on a 4-yard Surdock run. But Elyria reestablished control. Atkinson scored on a 24-yard run with 3:52 left in the third quarter and then gave the Pioneers a 42-14 lead with a 50-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Culliver liked how his team responded to adversity. "Out of everything that happened today, that's the thing I'm most pleased about," he said. "We've had a habit of coming out in the third quarter and playing flat and letting teams climb back into the game. That's what happened to us last week. "Last week if we would have come out with some toughness and enthusiasm we would have pulled out that game. Other than the kickoff I was happy with how our players responded. They scored the 14 points, but we just went back to doing what we do." After being held to just 8 rushing yards against Euclid three weeks ago, Atkinson rushed for 217 last week against Berea-Midpark before Saturday's explosion. "The line was outstanding ... I have a lot of respect for them," Atkinson said. "They've worked so hard. I was able to rush for 200 yards last week and this week was able to top that. They did a great job. I really give all the credit to the offensive line." Culliver was counting on his team's ground game to be a big advantage. "We knew if we could get some push up front, we could take control of the game," he said. "(The linemen) took some pride in their position and jobs. It's hard to find high school linemen that take pride in their positions. A lot of the time you get big guys that want to play running back or something. "Those five guys love to play offensive line and listen to their coaches. I'm happy for them." Midview rushed for 123 yards. Surdock gained 52 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns and threw for another score. Middies coach Luke Beal said the Pioneers' ground game was the difference. "Their offensive line is really good," he said. "They're big kids and their running backs run really hard. They were able to get some momentum early. We weren't tackling well, their backs were breaking tackles and they were getting big chunks of yards. That put us on our heels. "We got some momentum after the half, but we had put ourselves in too big a hole early. We had trouble tackling their backs all game." Whitfield ended the game with three touchdowns on the ground. "He's been a backup all year, and when our starter Daylan Sharlow hurt his shoulder last week and was out, Desmond got reps in practice all week," Culliver said. "He's a quiet, confident kid that can play the game. He did a great job and led us to a victory." Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com. Elyria 50, Midview 28 Midview&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;0&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;28Elyria&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;50 Scoring E — Desmond Whitfield, 2 run (Jaheim Atkinson run)E — Whitfield, 8 run (run failed)E — Lance Glover, 43 run (Omarion Palos pass from Whitfield)E — Whitfield, 4 run (pass failed)M — Ethan Surdock, 7 run (Kaiden Koch kick)M — Surdock, 4 run (Koch kick)E — Atkinson, 24 run (run failed)E — Atkinson, 50 run (Atkinson run)M — Surdock, 1 run (Koch kick)M — Bryce Newton, 25 pass from Surdock (Koch kick)E — Jaylen Redman, 13 run (Emery Horton run) Team statistics&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;M&emsp;&emsp;EFirst downs&emsp;&emsp;20&emsp;&emsp;25— by rushing&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;22— by passing&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;3— by penalty&emsp;&emsp;2&emsp;&emsp;0Yards rushing&emsp;&emsp;123&emsp;&emsp;424Yards passing&emsp;&emsp;169&emsp;&emsp;114Total offense&emsp;&emsp;292&emsp;&emsp;538Passes att./comp.&emsp;&emsp;23/11&emsp;&emsp;7/3Intercepted by&emsp;&emsp;1&emsp;&emsp;1Fumbles/lost&emsp;&emsp;1/0&emsp;&emsp;2/0Penalties/yards&emsp;&emsp;3/23&emsp;&emsp;8/60 Individual statistics RUSHING — (M) Tim Henson 12-62, Ethan Surdock 23-52, Mason Kucera 4-9, Joe Candella 1-0; (E) Jaheim Atkinson 29-291, Lance Glover 5-87, Desmond Whitfield 11-33, Jaylen Redman 1-13.PASSING — (M) Surdock 11-23-169-1-1. (E) Whitfield 3-7-114-0-1.RECEIVING — (M) Bryce Newton 3-69, Mason Kucera 3-34, Tyler Lewallen 2-35, Connor Awad 1-17, Joseph Bratkovich 1-11, Ben Croftcheck 1-3. (E) Core'Aun Washington 2-82, Perryion Benton 1-32.