One for the books
JACKSON TWP — Forrest Barnes lived every running back's dream Friday night.
On just 16 carries, the Seneca Valley senior galloped for a school-record 306 yards and scored seven touchdowns in a 64-14 win over visiting Connellsville.
“I don't recall seeing a performance like this at the high school level,” said Raiders' coach Don Holl. “Forrest just kept finding another gear tonight.”
After such a great individual achievement, Barnes remained humble.
“It's a team game,” he said. “The whole team broke the record tonight.”
Barnes' first touchdown — a 10-yard run early in the first quarter — gave the Raiders the lead, but he was just getting started.
By the end of the first half, he would add scoring runs of 96, 50, 31, 55 and 23 yards. He walked to the locker room at intermission with 278 yards on nine carries.
Barnes racing through Connellsville's secondary became an all-too familiar sight for Falcons' coach Dave McDonald.
“He was outstanding tonight,” McDonald said. “We knew it coming in. We picked a bad night to not tackle well. He gained 306 yards and every one of them was well-deserved.”
At times, Barnes seemed to be gliding rather than running for his big gains.
“It may not look like I'm running that fast because of my stride,” he said. “Every time I got into the open field, a defender was right there. Fortunately, I was able to shake loose.”
Barnes broke the school's single-game record — previously 301 yards by Bill Davis in 2002 — with a 5-yard rush late in the third quarter. He was taken out of the game immediately afterwards.
Following the game, Barnes had his picture taken with members of his offensive line.
“I couldn't have gained one yard tonight without them,”he said. “Wide receivers were making blocks too. And Jordan (Brown) was making the right reads.”
Senior Dean Ketterer started at left guard Friday night.
“It feels good to be part of a school record,” Ketterer said. “We were taking them (Connellsville's defensive linemen) right off the ball tonight.”
Also playing on the offensive line for the Raiders were Clayton Hoover, Zane Augustine, Tyler Hudanick, Scott Hillebrand, Max Cicero and Brandon Clough.
Barnes' effort seemed that much sweeter after he rushed for just 11 yards in last week's loss to North Allegheny.
“Last week was disappointing,” he said, “but we just flipped the switch. We wanted to show people that wasn't Seneca Valley football.”
Also scoring for Seneca Valley were T.J. Holl on a 59-yard pass from Mike Jones and Sam Henson on a 2-yard run, both coming in the fourth quarter.
Notes: Chad Izenas booted eight extra points for the Raiders ... With the loss, Connellsville dropped to 1-3 ... SV (3-1) will host Central Catholic at 7 p.m. Thursday.
