Photo by Stacy Schmidt
Jon Retzloff, Tonopah Valley (Tonopah, Ariz.)
Talk about efficiency.
Tonopah Valley senior tailback Jon Retzloff carried just 11 times during a 53-14 rout of Phoenix Westwind Prep Academy Friday night, but he set an Arizona Class 2A state record with 415 yards. That’s an incredible average of 37.7 yards per carry.
No national records are kept in the yards-per-carry category, but the 6-foot, 185-pound senior did easily surpass the previous 2A record of 381 rushing yards which had stood for 22 years.
He also scored six touchdowns – on runs of 85, 79, 64, 53, 48 and 14 yards. He did not play following the first scoring drive in the third quarter.
“It was a surprise,” coach Tony Stillings readily admitted. “He missed his whole junior year (due to a lacerated liver).”
In his first five games this fall, Retzloff had carried 56 times for 237 yards and had not scored.
“The first few games, he’d been getting his feet wet,” Stillings said of his first-year starter. “He’s got real good vision and he has that extra little burst that gets him out of trouble.
“He’s a good kid and a hard worker. After every touchdown, he thanked the members of his line. I told him after the game, ‘You can do that every week.’ ’’