AHS’ Najee Harris Breaks School’s All-Time Rushing Record
By Phil Jensen
POSTED: 11/19/2014 01:23:43 PM PST
In the third quarter of last Friday’s 50-26 win over San Leandro High, it occurred to Antioch coach John Lucido that star sophomore running back Najee Harris might have broken the school record for rushing yards in a game.
“I said ‘I think he’s over 300,'” Lucido said. “He was at 317.”
Harris shattered the previous school record of 302. He gained 371 yards on 30 carries despite not playing the final six minutes of the North Coast Section Division I first-round football game.
“I knew he was capable of doing it and I knew our line up front could do it,” Lucido said. “There’s always the opportunity when you break a 73-yarder.”
That’s what the 6-foot-2, 209 pound Harris did on the first play of the game, scoring the first of his four touchdowns. He also scored on runs of 6, 26 and 56 yards.
Harris said that he found out how many yards he had with 35 seconds left in the game. But when asked what will be the thing he will most remember about that game, Harris said the score and the team dumping water on Lucido after the program’s first NCS playoff victory in three decades.
“I am just worried about winning. That is my main goal, just to win,” Harris said.
“I am just worried about winning. That is my main goal, just to win,”
Najee Harris
Harris’ performance Friday didn’t come out of the blue. Entering that game, he had broken 200 yards three times this season and gained more than 100 yards in eight of the nine regular-season games he played this year. He now has 2,062 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns, and is averaging 8.3 yards per carry.
Antioch (7-4), the No. 10 seed in the NCS Division I playoffs, travels to face No. 2 Foothill (8-2) on Friday in a quarterfinal matchup.
UPDATE (11/29): The previous standing rushing record for AHS was 308 rushing yards in a game, accomplished by Joe Madrigal in the 1981-1982 season. He broke Carl Maxwell’s 1953 record of 304 rushing yards.