He’s 109 yards away from also setting
single-season rushing school record
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
CATAWBA – Ethan Howard’s rushing total on a record-setting night against Franklin has been confirmed as 24 carries for 220 yards, Bandys High head football coach Tom Eanes said Sunday.
Howard broke Bandys’ career rushing record previously held by Chris Spade (4,064 in 2003-2004) with a 41-yard scoring run with 10 minutes, 34 seconds left to play in the third quarter on Friday night at Garry Butler Memorial Stadium.
Bandys (11-1) defeated Franklin 28-14, advancing to a second round home game on Friday (7:30 p.m.) against West Stokes (11-1).
Howard, who has 4,220 career rushing yards, will have a chance to add a school record for most rushing yards in a season when the Trojans play their 25th postseason game at Butler Stadium.
He has 245 carries for 1,985 yards this season and will need 109 yards to break the current record of 2,093 by Chris Douglas in the 1998 season.
Howard has played in 46 varsity games, scoring 41 rushing TDs. He has 22 games with 100 or more yards and is averaging 91.7 yards per game for his career.
Spade played in 30 varsity games and Douglas (1997-1998) played in 29, with Spade averaging 135.4 yards per game and Douglas averaging 112.4.
Howard is averaging 140.9 yards per game rushing over the past two seasons (24 games with 34 rushing TDs and 17 games of 100 or more yards).
Spade, who now lives in Mooresville, and Douglas — who lives in Maryland after an All-ACC career at Duke — both attended Friday’s game and joined in recognizing Howard after the victory over Franklin.
Howard’s official rushing totals for his senior year come from review of game film each weekend by the Bandys coaching staff. Rushing totals for his first three years on the varsity team were compiled by HobbsDailyReport.com editor-owner Chris Hobbs.