Oil City (Pa.) junior
Ethen Knox has done something no other high school running back has ever done. He's surpassed the 2,000-yard milestone in just five games. Nobody has done it quicker.
After rushing for 301 yards in his first game, Knox has piled up totals of 402, 445, 424 and 432 yards. Only one other high school running back is known to have over 400 yards rushing four times in a season, and that's Tennessee Titan running back Derrick Henry during his senior year (2012) at Yulee (Fla.).
While Henry had back-to-back 400-yard games and three in four weeks, he never had four in a row, making Knox the first – and only – running back to accomplish the feat. With a 472-yard effort during his sophomore season, Knox is the only reported high school player with five 400-yard rushing outings in his career.
Additionally, no high school player has ever surpassed 2,000 yards in their first five games – until Knox. With 2,007 yards on 177 carries, Knox is averaging 11.3 yards per carry and 401.4 per game. No player has ever come within 60 yards of that per game average. The official record belongs to all-time great Ken Hall of Sugar Land (Texas), who averaged 337 yards in 1953 while rushing for 4,045 yards in 12 games.
Ethen Knox has topped 400 yards on the ground in four consecutive games.
Photo: Eric Elliott
It should be noted that the National Federation of High School Sports record book lists two other rushing yards per game averages above Hall. John Giannantonio of Netcong (N.J.) is listed with a 594 yard average, however that total is based on his all-purpose yardage total of 4,756 yards in eight games. His rushing total for the 1950 season was just over 3,000 yards (according to several New Jersey media sources), but the exact total is unknown. Giannantonio likely has an average close to 375 yards per game, but nothing official.
No. 2 on the NFHS list is Wes Danaher of Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas) with 356.9 yards per game based on 3,569 rushing yards in 10 games. However Danaher actually played 15 games that year and his average would be 238 yards per game.
It should also be noted that the number of games with over 400 yards rushing for both Giannantonio and Hall are unknown. Hall rushed for 520 yards in one game in 1953, but no other 400-plus yard games are known. Likewise, Giannantonio is known to have rushed for over 500 yards in a game but there is no record of any other games over 400.
The averages listed in the NFHS record book are for a complete season, so it's possible that a player could have averaged 400 yards per game early in the season and thus gone over 2,000 yards in five games. Research by MaxPreps, however, has determined that no player even comes close to Knox's five-game total.
Here's a look at the 10 running backs who have come closest to rushing over 2,000 yards in their first five games of the season:
1. Tyler Ebell, Ventura (Calif.)Season total: 4,495 yards
Five-game total: 1,785 yards
Best game: 400 yards
Average: 357 yards
2. David Dotson, Valley View (Moreno Valley, Calif.)Season total: 3,523
Five-game total: 1,772
Best game: 507
Average: 354
3. Derrick Henry, Yulee (Fla.)Season total: 4,261
Five-game total: 1,753
Best game: 510
Average: 350
4. Paul McCoy, Matewan (W.Va.)Season total: 2,301
Five-game total: 1,723
Best game: 661
Average: 345
5. Kenneth Hall, Sugar Land (Texas)Season total: 4,045
Five-game total: 1,685 (based on 337 average)
Best game: NA
Average: 337
6. Arkeel Newsome, Ansonia (Conn.)Season total: 3,763
Five-game total: 1,671
Best game: 401
Average: 334
7. Thomas Tyner, Aloha (Beaverton, Ore.)
Season total: 3,415
Five-game total: 1,657
Best game: 643
Average: 331
8. Kellen Overstreet, Penney (Hamilton, Mo.)
Season total: 4,259
Five-game total: 1,587
Best game: 437
Average: 317
9. Travis Henry, Frostproof (Fla.)
Season total: 4,087
Five-game total: 1,565
Best game: 428
Average: 313
10. Daniel Bangura, Harvest Prep (Canal Winchester, Ohio)
Season total: 4,128
Five-game total: 1,539
Best game: 395
Average: 308
