High school football: Levi Ellis chasing history, has chance to wind up as Elyria Catholic's all-time rushing leader

Elyria Catholic senior running back Levi Ellis is chasing history, nipping at the heels of some of Lorain County's greatest players. The Panthers have a deep tradition of exceptional running backs, from 1976 state champion Bryan Thomas to Al McKinney, who led Elyria Catholic to state titles in 1983 and 1984. Bruce Yeager was named to the All-Ohio first team in 1972 and 1973 before moving on to play four seasons at Georgia Tech, Matt Wilhelm earned all-state honors as a running back in 1998 before moving on to Ohio State and, eventually, the NFL, where he played seven seasons for four teams and won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers. Yeager, Thomas, McKinney and Wilhelm all were Golden Helmet Award winners. McKinney, who played at the University of Cincinnati following his high school career, set the Elyria Catholic rushing standard with 4,789 yards in a career that ended in 1984. Thomas, who starred at the University of Pittsburgh, is second with 4,083. Justin Rankin, who graduated in 2012, is third with 3,995. Ellis, with 3,719 after a 308-yard outburst against Holy Name last week, is now fourth. And climbing. If he remains on the pace he has set over the first four games this season — 212.5 yards per game — Ellis will finish his career as the leading rusher in school history. If the Panthers do not make the playoffs, which is unlikely, Ellis will have to average 179 yards per game to eclipse McKinney's record. If they play one playoff game, that number falls to 153 yards per game. If they win a playoff opener and play a 12th game, 134 yards per game will do the trick. Ellis is 276 yards behind Rankin, 364 yards behind Thomas and 1,070 behind McKinney. "On the football field I can identify three attributes for him: determination, grit and execution," McKinney said about Ellis. "He does it on offense and defense. He's a young beast. I'm his No. 1 fan and I'm rooting for him to go all the way. No doubt about it. "I am ecstatic for Levi to (break the school record) because there is nothing pretentious about him. He doesn't talk about himself a lot, doesn't really talk about himself much at all. His play does all the talking for him. That's a beautiful thing." When the others in the top five played for the Panthers they saw significant snaps as freshmen. In McKinney's case, the state championship years when he was a junior and senior, the first string rarely played after halftime because the games were already in the bag. Ellis became the Panthers' starting tailback midway through his freshman season. "It literally has been a four-year thing for him," Elyria Catholic coach Brian Fox said. "It's usually the bad programs that have to play freshmen, but it's one of those things where we were a playoff team and Levi was our starting running back, running for 8 yards a carry. "It's insane for me to think about that because he's been doing it at a high level for so long. He was 155 pounds as a freshman. He's been doing this for so long, and it says a lot about his instincts and his ability." After a trip to the regional semifinals last season, Ellis said while the rushing record is a nice goal, he just wants his team to have a successful season. "I've watched film of all of those guys and I know how well they could play," Ellis said of the past Panther stars he's pursuing. "They were all great players here so I'm definitely in some elite company. Before the year I never really thought about it, but it's getting more and more realistic. "I sometimes get chills when I think about it, but I'm not really worried about it right now. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, and the team is playing well, so be it. "It's been amazing and the offensive line has always made me look good. It's been a lot easier to do my job when they're doing their jobs in front of me." This is the mentality, Fox said, that has helped the Panthers have sustained success over the last five years. "How many coaches can look at one of their players and say, 'Incredible football player … a little bit of a liability as a teammate?'" Fox asked. "You can see programs crumble under that because it sets a horrible tone and a horrible image. "You need your best players to be your best people. They don't necessarily have to be your best leaders. You'd love that, but you need them to be your best people. That's what creates culture. When you have somebody that's the leader (Ellis) is and who prepares like he does, that also cares about the other kids and people in the program and community, that's the reason our program is in a place like this." Even if Ellis falls short of the career rushing record, Rankin has been impressed with what he has seen from him. "He's got some muscle and some whip to him," Rankin said. "To be able to have that many rushing yards in a career … to even be close to that is an accomplishment. He's working hard and doing all the right things on and off the field." Aside from the rushing numbers, Fox is also appreciative of what Ellis, who is also the Panthers' leading tackler, and the other players on the all-time rushing list have given to the program. "Every time I see Al McKinney it's a great day," Fox said. "I finally got to meet Bryan Thomas and it was incredible. When you see these people around and see how much they love the school, they're why it's so special. You'll see programs that don't care so much and haven't created that sense of community, and in that situation those aren't programs. They're just teams. "This means a lot to Levi because of that connection to the past. When so many people that were so important to a program are so present, they really show you how much they care about the program. It shows they care about you as an individual. That's what makes this such a great community to be around and I think Levi has bought into that." Contact Mike Perry at (440) 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com.