The Canisius Crusaders emerged victorious in a battle with the Huron Heights Warriors of Newmarket, Ontario on Saturday but during the 43-21 win, a remarkable individual mark was achieved. Senior running back Elijah Kimble surpassed Jehuu Caulcrick of Clymer to become Western New York's all-time rushing yardage leader midway through the contest and ended the game with 13 carries for 263 yards and four touchdowns.
"Leading up to today, my thoughts were ‘This is crazy. Tomorrow, I'm going to make history and put myself in the record books as number one,'" Kimble said. "It's just a wild feeling. I couldn't imagine doing this a couple of years ago."
Kimble, the reigning Connolly Cup winner and a recent commit to Syracuse, received praise after the game from Crusaders coach Kraig Kurzanski.
"It's a testament to just not Elijah, but the school itself, the kids that we've had, our assistant coaches and obviously his talent," Kurzanski said. "He's a talented young guy, but most importantly he has grown up from a boy to a man. "Syracuse is getting a good one. If he stays humble and he keeps God first, I think he's going to be okay."
Naturally, Kimble kicked off the scoring early in the first quarter on an 80-yard touchdown run. After a turnover deep in Warriors territory, he struck again on a 40-yard scamper to put Canisius up by 14 and after Luke Mercuri got Huron Heights on the scoreboard a few moments later, Kimble would find the end zone for a third time from 25 yards out to make it 20-7.
Following an intentional safety taken by the Warriors, Kimble went to work on the record and got it with 46.8 seconds to go in the second quarter via a six-yard carry. The game was stopped with a celebration involving his teammates and family members a framed jersey presented to him and a crown placed on his head.
"That was definitely special," Kimble said. "My family and I have been through a lot the last few years – just countless times of them driving me to practice, driving me back and forth to different states on recruiting trips. Just being able to have this and share it with them is great." Kimble then effectively sealed the win for the Crusaders on the first play of the second half on another long scoring run – this time from 74 yards away. With that, Kimble's day was done and teammates Dallon Floyd and Leo Burg took over his rushing duties and both would find paydirt themselves to cap off the point total for Canisius.
Following the game, both Kimble and Kurzanski reflected on how far the running back had come since his freshman season.
"I remember as a freshman and sophomore, I would chirp other guys on the field really bad but over the last couple of years I've been helping people up more," Kimble said. "That's just one way I've grown since then. Going from a boy to a man is what Canisius and Coach Kurzanski have instilled in me, and I'm so glad to have that."
Kurzanski noticed other differences.
"The way he treats other people is where I've seen the growth," Kurzanski said. "He was honoring his teammates after he was taken out of the game – he was the first one out to give water to kids. He's also found a relationship with Christ that he may have had before, but it was on the fringe. Now it's in the center of his life, which I think is a good thing for young people. He prays with his grandma before every game – that wouldn't have happened three years ago.
"But he's not a finished product. When he leaves us in May and he goes to Syracuse, hopefully Coach (Fran) Brown is getting a kid who's going to last for four or five years there. It's about him."