Football: Sophomore RB Ethan Meadows authors breakthrough performance for Tompkins
In fifth varsity game, Meadows accounts for 253 total yards, 6 total touchdowns in win over Mayde Creek
Tompkins sophomore running back Ethan Meadows never had a game like he had Thursday night.
With the Falcons fighting to revive their season, it came at the perfect time.
Meadows compiled 253 total yards and six total touchdowns, leading Tompkins to a 48-27 win over Mayde Creek at Rhodes Stadium to snap a three-game losing skid.
The Falcons improved to 2-3 overall, 1-2 in District 19-6A.
Tompkins 48, Mayde Creek 27: Game recap with player interviews
In just his fifth varsity game, Meadows rushed for 193 yards and four touchdowns on 27 carries and had 60 yards and two touchdowns on five catches.
He averaged 7.9 yards per touch.
For young players on varsity, Tompkins coach Todd McVey said what matters most is “reps and seeing the game.” Understanding offensive concepts and seeing running lanes.
“And then the natural ability starts to take over,” McVey said.
So, in that regard, would it be fair to call Thursday a breakthrough for his precocious ballcarrier?
“Well, how many yards did he have?” McVey said, rhetorically. “I’d say that’s pretty good. And I think the team, offensively, feeds off that. We want to run the ball. The passing game (Thursday) was opening it up a little bit. We’re trying to find the balance of who we are, and it’s coming.”
Meadows has arrived.
“I don’t want to let anyone down. If that means getting hit over and over, I’m willing to do it. … I’m not going down that easy.” — Tompkins sophomore running back Ethan Meadows
The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder, who runs a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash and bench-presses 235 pounds, scored on rushing touchdowns of 4, 64, 8 and 9 yards, respectively. He scored on catches of 10 and 12 yards.
Tompkins used Meadows everywhere. In motion. On screens. Runs up the middle. Runs to the outside.
His first touchdown was a 4-yard run on a direct snap.
“(It’s) Staying true to the coaching,” said Meadows, who was fifth in District 19-6A in rushing entering this week. “Listening and knowing what to do. I haven’t been doing anything differently, except improving. I think that goes for us as a whole offense. Everyone’s been getting better. It’s not just one player.”
Senior quarterback Justin Thierheimer said Meadows has a never-give-up mindset.
“Always moving his feet. Always getting those extra yards,” Thierheimer said.
Meadows said that comes from “giving it all for my team.”
“I don’t want to let anyone down,” he said. “If that means getting hit over and over, I’m willing to do it. In my mind, I’m thinking they’re going to have to bring a couple of people to bring me down. I’m not going down that easy.”
And, true to form, Meadows fought and fought and fought Thursday. He turned gains that looked to be a few yards into 6- or 8-yard bursts. He embraces contact, punishes tacklers.
Meadows showcased tremendous speed on a 64-yard touchdown spree in the second quarter. He showed physicality, toughness and resilience powering through a violent Mayde Creek defensive front, featuring two Power 4 prospects on the D-line, on 8- and 9-yard touchdown runs to put the game away in the fourth quarter.
“It’s vision,” McVey said. “He can square his shoulders, and then his speed right after that. It’s desire, too. He has great desire. He loves his teammates. That’s a big deal for him. For a young guy, you love to see him showing that.”
McVey said others feed off seeing a young player willing to sacrifice his body to gain any extra inch.
“It’s like anything else, the guys want to block harder now, they’re going to get to that second or third level faster,” McVey said. “I thought the receivers did a really good job blocking, and that was the key downfield. We say, ‘No block, no rock, so you better be blocking.’ I’m really proud of those guys.”
Yes, senior receivers Adebisi Bello and K.J. Madison, and tight ends James Mayse and Cade Bauer, sacrificed their bodies as well. And an offensive line of senior left tackle Deacon Parrish, junior right tackle JP Culotta, senior left guard Nyrel Ablola, sophomore right guard Cooper Cummings and junior center David Bryson has performed admirably for a position group down two starters.
“All credit to the O-line,” Meadows said. “Couldn’t have done it without them.”
McVey sees a more relaxed Meadows than he saw in Week 1. He sees the game slowing down for him. As a result, Meadows is hitting holes when and where he’s supposed to.
Coming off an open week, Tompkins got a lot right offensively against Mayde Creek, totaling 590 yards. It made more of a concerted effort to push the ball downfield, and that led way to 311 rushing yards on 40 carries.
Thierheimer completed 18 of 24 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 108 yards and nine carries.
With Thierheimer and Meadows, the Falcons’ read-option game was lethal, discombobulating a potent Mayde Creek defense early and often.
When the read-option is brought up in a postgame interview, Thierheimer and Meadows looked at each other and laughed, nodding their heads knowingly.
Thierheimer said they practice rides, an action where Thierheimer shifts his weight from the back to the front leg to get a read on the defender, every day at the start of practice. It has become habit.
“He rides it down as good as he can and he just pulls it,” Meadows said. “It forces the D-end, or whoever our read key is, to just stay. If he goes now, Justin’s going to pull it, and he’s gone.”
Same with Meadows. Give him a sliver of opportunity with the ball in his hands, and he’s off and running. Ask the Rams.
“I think it’ll help a lot, actually,” Meadows said of the confidence his exceptional performance offers, “and I think it will build trust with my whole team.”