'New Garfield' stays unbeaten behind Harris' dominant night

GARFIELD HEIGHTS – When No. 0 touched the ball for Garfield Heights in a 39-37 win over Cardinal Mooney on Friday, the PA announcer told the crowd it already knew the running back’s name — so he didn’t need to say it.And anyone who didn’t know the name knew it by the time they left Blaugrund Field, as Elijah Harris ran the ball 24 times for 215 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on a kickoff return for the Bulldogs.The 5-foot-10 junior got things started right away, picking up nine and eight yards on his first two carries before breaking free for a 27-yard touchdown run to end the first drive.“It was just time to get the offense rolling,” Harris said. “We were the underdogs again for Week 2, so it was just time for me to get rolling and just make a statement.”On Garfield Heights’ second possession, Harris again found the end zone, this time from just one yard out after quarterback Jariah Morgan hit Davontae Miller for a 37-yard pass to put the ball at the Mooney 1-yard-line.After Mooney scored to cut the lead to 13-7 with 35 seconds left in the first quarter, Harris made a different kind of statement. On the ensuing kickoff, the ball was bouncing around and a Mooney player grabbed it. Harris drilled the Mooney player to jar the ball loose, grabbed the ball and ran 65 yards for a touchdown.“I haven’t done kickoff in a minute, but I knew I had to take it to the house and win this game,” Harris said. “To be honest, that was the mindset all week, win this game. They come into our home, and they can’t beat us at our home.”When asked about the hit that jarred the ball loose, Harris laughed.“I couldn’t let him keep the ball,” he said.But the biggest statement of them all might have been a little more than midway through the second quarter after Mooney had scored 10 straight points to cut the lead to 19-17 and the offense for Garfield Heights was struggling.After a 29-yard kickoff return by King Young to give the Bulldogs possession at their own 42, it didn’t take long for Harris to get the crowd on its feet. He took a handoff from Morgan on the first play and burst through a hole on the right side, going 58 yards for a touchdown.“I felt the energy with the whole sideline and the energy in the stands as well,” Harris said. “But when I scored that, it was just more of, ‘Let’s win the game,’ because people keep making us the underdogs. I just want to show everybody that it’s a new Garfield and what we can do and what we’re coming to do this season.”Harris is a big part of what is being dubbed “New Garfield” by the players and coaches. He played his first two seasons at Cleveland Heights, where a year ago he had 678 yards on just 120 carries for the Tigers while suffering a shoulder injury that limited his playing time.And in his first year at Cleveland Heights, he played for current Garfield Heights head coach Mac Stephens. Harris weighed 180 pounds as a freshman, but work in the weight room has added 15 pounds, which is one of the differences Stephens has seen in Harris.“He is 195 pounds now, he’s a load,” Stephens said. “And he’s gotten faster. He works hard. Earlier in the summer he had a little hamstring situation and he’s still not 100% which is pretty scary. But the thing is, he’s got a high football IQ, and when he gets going downhill, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”Harris has also noticed the difference in himself.“I’m more physical, I’m more comfortable, and I’m also more ready to go,” Harris said. “My freshman year, I was a little I could say sluggish and slow, but now I have improved and I know what I can do. Even though I’ve had injuries and stuff, I’m still working my butt off. So I feel like I’ll always be great, but I can be even better.”The extra weight and physicality came in handy against Mooney, as the Bulldogs were able to rely on Harris throughout the game to be the workhorse. He ran the ball 11 times for 133 yards and the three scores in the first half, but he was also effective in the second half with 13 carries for 82 yards.When told of how many carries his running back accumulated throughout the game, Stephens smiled and nodded.“Going into the game, we thought you know, 15, maybe 20 carries, and we went over that,” Stephens said. “But when he’s running like that, you have to feed him.”Harris’ big game on Friday followed a performance in a 27-24 win over Canfield in Week 1 where he ran the ball 10 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 34 carries for 361 yards and five rushing touchdowns through two games.Harris’ recruitment has not yet hit its stride, as he has interest from a few Mid-American Conference schools and Kentucky. But he isn’t worried about that at the moment.“My recruiting, to be honest, hasn’t picked up as much as you would have thought it would,” Harris said. “But I’m really just here to play football. Recruiting will come when it comes because I’m just a ball player, so schools will come see me when they want to.”If he keeps playing the way he has to start the season, those colleges will know his name the same way everyone did on Friday night.