Big-time rushing performances were the weekend theme on the Abbotsford high school football scene.
Ben Cummings of the Robert Bateman Timberwolves and Maleek Irons of the W.J. Mouat Hawks each put up video game-style numbers. Cummings ran for 402 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries in his team's 41-0 win over the Langley Saints, while Irons racked up 425 yards and four TDs on 34 carries as AAA No. 1-ranked Mouat doubled up on the Centennial Centaurs 44-22.
The Rick Hansen Hurricanes also got a big game from their running back, though not quite on the ridiculous 400-yard level. Reagan Doucette rolled up 156 yards and a major on 17 carries, but the Hurricanes dropped a 41-19 decision to the defending AA provincial champ Mission Roadrunners.
In other action, the Abbotsford Senior Panthers fell 33-0 to the Pitt Meadows Marauders.
Cummings' performance was perhaps the most dramatic. The Grade 11 rusher missed the previous two games with a separated shoulder, but returned to lead the way in a victory which means Bateman's regular season finale vs. Mission this Saturday (1:30 p.m., Mission Secondary) will be for first place in the AA Eastern Conference.
"Ben was hungry, man," T-Wolves assistant coach Rick MacDonald said. "He's probably only player I've ever met who appears to be in physical pain when he can't practice or play, even if he's not. He lives for it."