It’s a pass-happy era in high school football, with the state career-yardage record going down each of the last two seasons. But Goode has found a different path to success.
The Knights run the ball more than 90% of the time and have a seemingly endless supply of running backs. The ringleader is junior quarterback Jordan Boston, whose deception keeps defenses guessing — usually wrong.
Saturday was a typical day at the office for Goode, which cruised to a 60-20 victory against visiting Brooks while using nine ball carriers.
Aedan Cleveland carried 11 times for 192 yards and three touchdowns, ran a punt back 75 yards for a fourth score and caught a pass for 28 yards.
Boston ran for 113 yards and a touchdown — also on 11 carries — and completed two of his three passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Caron Williams added three carries for 56 yards and a touchdown, and Gabriel Chambers-Crosby also had a touchdown run.
‘‘Our thing is, if you can play, you’re going to play,’’ Knights coach Terrence McClarn said. ‘‘We want as many guys [as possible] to get reps, and that keeps our guys fresh.’’
Cleveland, who led the team in rushing last season, is fine with spreading the wealth.
‘‘I like to get my rest, and I like to get other people their attention, too,’’ he said.
One of those people Saturday was 5-10, 281-pound senior tight end Trenell Clark.
‘‘Freshman year, he was a center,’’ McClarn said. ‘‘Then he got moved to tackle. And then he was playing catch and things. . . . [In] our offense, we need a tight end who can block.’’
Clark does that and more.
‘‘His hands [are] just out of this world,’’ McClarn said. ‘‘And he can move for a big fella.’’
Clark made a one-handed catch of a 23-yard scoring pass — his first career touchdown — and also ran once for nine yards.
How did he take the news that he would be a full-time tight end?
‘‘It felt great that I was going to be a part of the skill players and build more chemistry with them,’’ Clark said.
Goode (3-1, 2-0 Red Southwest) has had an unusual season. The Knights forfeited to T.F. North because of low numbers and other issues in Week 2, then had a no contest against Orr in Week 3 when the Public League schedule was jumbled because of the heat advisory.
The Knights’ victory last week against Hyde Park ended a 22-day gap between games.
‘‘We’ve still got to clean up the mistakes,’’ McClarn said. ‘‘I’d be happy if we stopped fumbling the ball. So ball security, make sure we take care of the ball. We’re getting there.’’
Junior Antoine Mathis led Brooks (2-3, 0-2) with six carries for 85 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown. Mathis started the season at defensive back and just moved to offense last week.
Eagles coach Clifford Brisseus is in his second season. He said a big focus has been on changing the mindset in a program whose last winning season was 2021.
‘‘It’s that mentality change,’’ Brisseus said. ‘‘It’s way better than last year. So every year, you improve and improve and improve.’’