Yellow Jacket backs a four-pronged attack

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Eastern Shore Post/Mark Moring Photo // Northampton running backs, from left, Jerry Sturgis, Jeremiah White, Elijah Hope, and Khaidn Davis are a force to be reckoned with.

BY MARK MORING, Eastern Shore Post —

Exactly 100 years ago, Notre Dame’s unbeaten football team won the national championship behind a quartet of running backs that legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice gave a nickname that would go down in history.

“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again,” Rice wrote for the New York Herald Tribune. “In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction, and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden.”

In the fall of 2024, Northampton High School has its own powerful quartet of running backs. Maybe they’re not yet ready to be called “the Four Horsemen,” but coach John Edney does have a nickname for them.

“Hey, you knuckleheads!” Edney calls out when it’s picture-taking time at the end of a recent practice. “Get over here!”

It’s clearly a term of endearment. Because when these “knuckleheads” hit the field on Friday nights, they knuckle down and run through, around, and past the guys lining up on the other side.

Khaidn Davis, Elijah Hope, Jerry Sturgis, and Jeremiah White — all juniors — have led Northampton (4-2) to four straight wins after an 0-2 start. The Yellow Jackets have been playing so well that Edney hated having a bye week last week. They’ll look to restore that momentum at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, against visiting John Marshall (2-5).

Every football team hopes for a 1,000-yard running back. Northampton has one; it just happens to have eight legs, eight arms, and four heads. Davis, Hope, Sturgis, and White have combined for almost 1,400 yards — about 230 yards per game — but none of the four has more than 450.

“The backfield has been very dynamic,” says Edney. “They share the workload, and each game one or two of them get hot.” Hope was the last one to do so, running for 214 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-18 win over Middlesex two weeks ago.

Hope describes himself as a “speedy/slashy type.” Edney calls him “a true tailback with good speed” and says offseason work in the weight room gave him more power. “And he’s a team player, through and through. He blocks just as hard as he runs. When he’s on, he’s fun to watch.” Hope also plays linebacker.

Davis calls himself “a speed runner mixed with strength.” Edney calls him “kind of our scat back” who hits holes quickly. “He’s fast and tough to tackle in the box. He can run our inside game as well as hit the corner for big plays. He could go for six on any given play. He’s a gamer.” Davis also plays linebacker and cornerback.

Sturgis — a fullback and the only one weighing over 200 pounds — says he’s a “strength runner, but if I get in the open field, I’m gone.” Edney agrees: “When he gets into the defensive backfield, he can make big plays. He doesn’t always get the number of touches the other guys do, but he can wear a defense out with a decent load of carries, then it opens up for the other guys.” Sturgis also plays linebacker. And this winter, he’ll look to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish in the state wrestling meet.

White describes himself as “a speed runner,” but Edney says he’s “our Swiss Army knife” who has played every skill position on offense. “He’s just a smart football player,” Edney says. “You can give him a crash course on any position, and he can go out there and execute at a high level.” White also plays strong safety and runs track in the spring.

All four runners give credit to their offensive line. So does Edney: “Obviously they can’t do what they do without the boys up front,” he says. The coach also cites senior quarterback Brock Leland for “conducting the offense efficiently.”

Northampton hosts Snow Hill next week and then has Eastern Shore District games against Arcadia (home on Nov. 1) and Nandua (away on Nov. 8). Last year, the Jackets beat the former and lost to the latter, giving the Warriors the district title. But both of those teams are down this year (Arcadia is 2-5, Nandua is 0-6), so the Jackets appear to be on track to win the district for the first time since 2021.

“Winning the district is a goal and we’re coming for it,” says White. Davis is a little more measured: “We’re not focused on the district title,” he says. “One game at a time.”

Edney would approve of that outlook — just as he heartily approves of this fine quartet.

“What makes these guys special is how hard they play both with the ball in their hands and for one another,” he says. “It’s truly a joy to coach them.”

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