FENTON – It began as a regular night of work for Summit senior Elijah Stevens.
During the first 18 minutes of action against Parkway North on Thursday, the Falcons’ running back carried the ball seven times to keep the defense honest so the Summit passing attack could get on track.
But it never did, so Summit coach Eric Stewart decided to feed Stevens the ball.
And feed him.
And feed him.
“Coach (Stewart) told me at halftime that he was going to put the ball in my hands and wanted me to put the team on my back, and that’s what I did,” Stevens said.
Stevens carried the ball 37 times for 243 yards and scored five touchdowns in leading Summit to a 39-27 victory over a resilient Parkway North team Thursday at Rockwood Summit High.
Summit (4-0) won its first four games to begin a season for the second time in three years. The Falcons won their first 10 games in 2021 before losing at Jackson in a Class 5 state quarterfinal.
The Stevens train began motoring a few minutes before halftime when he toted the rock five consecutive times during a quick-paced Falcons’ drive. On the second play, he broke off a 23-yard run. Summit raced to the line of scrimmage and gave it him again … and again.
“We went tempo so they couldn’t get set,” Stevens said.
After an incompletion, he rushed three more times, including a sideline tightrope to gain a first down on 4th-and-4, before powering into the end zone to give Summit a 14-7 lead.
Stevens gained 15 first downs with his runs, including converting 3-for-3 on fourth down.
“When we need a first down, they look to me, and it means a lot that they trust me to get it done for them,” Stevens said.
Getting it done for Parkway North (3-1) was junior running back Messiah Smith, who went 8-for-16 for 146 yards and two touchdowns in his first game playing quarterback in place of Sam Boydston, who was sidelined with a foot injury.
“I was a little nervous at first, but when I made the first throw, I was just locked in after that,” Smith said.
Smith, who also gained 187 yards on the ground, led the Vikings on a 12-play, 69-yard touchdown drive to begin the game. Another nine-play, 63-yard drive ended with a botched field goal attempt. And when he unleashed a 72-yard bomb to Hank Mohrmann right before halftime, the game was tied at 14 heading into intermission.
“He stepped up in a really big way that not many kids would be able to do,” Parkway North coach Karl Odenwald said. “To go from running back to quarterback, and do what he did against a very tough, well-coached football team is not normal. I’m proud of his effort and what he was able to do for his team.”
But the second half belonged to Stevens and the Summit offensive line.
A five-play touchdown drive to open the third quarter consisted solely of runs by Stevens, including jaunts of 14, 12 and an 18-yard burst up the middle into the end zone.
But Parkway North, and most notably Smith, would not relent. On a third-and 3, Smith probed the right side of the line, slipped a tackle and escaped for a 58-yard touchdown run to give Parkway North a 21-20 lead.
“(Parkway North) brought it tonight. They gave us everything we could take. Messiah Smith is a warrior. I give a lot of credit to that kid,” Stewart said.
And Summit had its own warrior who still had gas in the tank. Stevens carried the ball six times on the ensuing drive, barreling in for his fourth touchdown run on a five-yard plunge that gave Summit the lead to stay.
Through three quarters, Stevens carried the ball 32 times for 207 yards, with 15 of those carries coming in the third quarter alone.
“After seeing how we ran the ball in the first half, we said we’re going to sell out on the run, and we’re going win with our O-line and with Eli,” Stewart said.
That O-line was anchored by seniors Topher Hemphill and Justin Cornett, who blew open holes for Stevens to find.
“Being a guard, I got to pull on a lot of those plays, so I was just running off the line and getting to hit people. It was a lot of fun,” Hemphill said.
Cornett added, “It’s pretty nice to know we have someone who will get downfield and get those yards.”
And in a fitting conclusion, Stevens got the yards that iced the game, converting a fourth down with a 31-yard touchdown run for his fifth score of the game.
It was Stevens’ first game with 30-plus carries in his career and the first time he has eclipsed 200 yards.
And it occurred on a Thursday night, with a school day on the horizon.
“That’s rough,” Stevens said with a laugh. “But I’ll feel much better after a win.”