Mario breaks state record

JACKSON, Mo. -- Graceful. Incredible. Historical.

The red and white blur otherwise known as Mario Whitney rushed for a state-record 460 yards and six touchdowns on 32 carries as the Indians (5-0) defeated Parkway North (2-3) 56-22 Friday night at Jackson Stadium.

Whitney's final carry, a 61-yard sprint down the right sideline, put No. 20 at No.1 in the books, ahead of St. Francis Borgia's Brock Olivo, who rushed for 403 yards in 1993. Olivo is now playing in the NFL.

Whitney said he knew he was close to 400 -- and the record --as the Indians started their final drive.

"This means a lot to my line," Whitney said. "They got it for me. I've never had a line care about me so much and I've never cared more about my offensive line. These guys are my best friends."

Whitney said on his final run, he was "grinning ear pad to ear pad. I couldn't help it."

And neither could center Pete Ressler.

"This was the No. 1 moment of my high school career so far," Ressler said. "It was a great team effort and a great individual effort. He makes us look good and we love to block for him."

Indeed it appeared that way as Whitney had huge holes all night. But his 4.38-second 40-yard dash time and his uncanny agility didn't hurt either.

Earlier this summer, Whitney gave a verbal commitment to the University of Missouri. He scored on runs of 1, 45, 65, 67, 37 and 61 yards and he had 287 yards in the second half alone. His season rushing total through five games is 1,115 yards. He's also scored 20 touchdowns.

Said tackle Travis Dambach, "This was great. I know we played kind of sloppy, but it was the best thing in the world to see Mario do what he did. We knew he was getting close to breaking it so we were going to block for him and let him let it loose."

Whitney scored twice in the first half and Seth McDowell caught a 22-yard pass from Bryan Austin as Jackson led 21-0 at the break.

Whitney scored his 65-yarder on the first play of the third quarter to put the Indians up 28-0, but Parkway North wouldn't go down without a fight. The Vikings scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Blake Eyers to Jon Turk to pull within 28-7.

Whitney answered with a 67-yard score, but Parkway North scored again on an 87-yard pass completion from Eyers to Brandon Goldstein to make it 35-14.

After another Whitney touchdown, Eyers completed another touchdown pass, this time a 23-yard strike to Goldstein to make it 49-22.

Parkway North then tried an onside kick and somehow Dusty Roberts came away with it and went untouched for a return of 53 yards.

As impressive of a night as it was, Jackson's secondary was torched for 246 yards, leaving Jackson coach Carl Gross wit mixed emotions.

He would've liked to have pulled Whitney much earlier, but the Indians couldn't stop the Vikings from scoring.

"Honestly, I'm proud of what he did, but this game wasn't that much fun," said Gross, who added that once he gets a chance to think about it, the record will become more meaningful. "I'm proud of him and the whole offensive line and the fullback. I'm happy for him. This isn't going to be an easy record to break."