Please excuse Rashard Mendenhall for being in such a hurry.
You see, he doesn’t have much time left at Niles West.
The 5-foot-11-inch, 206-pound All-State running back is graduating in January and enrolling early at Illinois, where he will join older brother Walter in trying to reverse the Illini’s football fortunes.
Mendenhall certainly was in a rush to get places last Friday, gaining 326 yards and scoring three touchdowns on 30 carries in a 42-26 victory over previously unbeaten Deerfield.
“That was the first game my [right] hamstring felt like normal,” he said of an injury that occurred late in the season opener against Antioch. “It slowed me down and I couldn’t sprint at all.”
After rushing for 190 yards and three TDs, plus returning a kickoff 90 yards for another score–the play that aggravated the hamstring injury–Mendenhall ran for only 150 yards the following week against Niles North.
More Top Picks Best Leg Compression Massagers
“He is fun to watch–just not from the other sideline,” Deerfield coach Steve Winiecki said. “We held him to just two long runs (57- and 44-yard TD runs), but he was getting 7 or 8 yards every time he touched the ball, and that catches up with you.”
In theory, catching up with Mendenhall should be easier this year with Walter, another breakaway threat, now suiting up for the Illini.
“When I look up, a lot of eyes are on me most of the time,” Rashard Mendenhall said. “Teams have been focusing on me, especially Deerfield near the end of the game. I heard a lot of `5 right’ or `5 left,’ and I think they were talking about me.”
What has helped Niles West’s No. 5 break free is the blocking of offensive linemen Tommy Maddex, Brett Kopf (6-3, 255), John Alvarado, Tom Gustafson and Kris Kinslow (6-1, 240) and fullback Mike Galambos.
“He looked like the real Rashard in the Deerfield game,” said Niles West coach Mark Egofske, whose Wolves face Maine East on Friday night.
“He missed a lot of preseason practices because of a religious leadership conference, which is actually more important in his life.
“He’s grown an inch and put on 11 pounds, so Rashard is more powerful and can be really intimidating. He has been coming to school early in the morning to work with our trainer on that hamstring.”
Egofske has encouraged his franchise player to become a more complete back.
“Coach gets on my back about my faking and blocking,” said Mendenhall, rated the fifth-best running back in the nation by both SuperPrep Magazine of Laguna Beach, Calif., and Rivals.com. “He wants me to pick up my game in other aspects when I’m not carrying the ball. I guess a play-fake to me does force the defense to come my way.”
SuperPrep publisher Allen Wallace considers Mendenhall among the nation’s top 50 players.
“He is the best running back to come out of the Land of Lincoln in 30 years,” Wallace said. “Rashard is a super athlete with home-run-type speed, is excellent between the tackles, has the ability to make defenders miss and has that extra gear to take it the distance.
“He is arguably the best tailback in the nation.”