Meet Alabama HS running back chasing state rushing record

Daleville's Jalen White

Daleville running back Jalen White runs for a gain during a game agasint Geneva County during the 2019 season.Jay Hare | The Dothan Eagle

Only four Alabama high school running backs have run for more than 3,000 yards in a single season, and all four needed 15 games to get there.

There’s a strong possibility Daleville’s Jalen White will reach the 3,000-yard plateau this week in his 10th game. White has 2,919 yards on 188 carries – averaging 15.5 yards per carry – heading into this week’s regular-season finale against Barbour County, a team that’s lost 58 straight.

“I put in a lot of hard work in in the offseason,” said White, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder. “It’s probably the best offseason I’ve had in high school, so I know that hard work is going to pay off.”

White has emerged as a bona fide Mr. Football candidate and a rising star in recruiting circles. He holds offers from South Alabama, North Alabama, Alabama A&M and Tennessee State and said he’s received recent interest from Florida, Tennessee, Maryland and other Power 5 schools.

White ran for 485 yards and seven touchdowns in last week’s 70-51 victory over Geneva County, which likely secured a playoff berth. He has scored 39 touchdowns in nine games.

“He’s running hard, the line is doing a good job, and we’re doing a good job of getting him into space,” first-year Daleville coach Demsond Lett said. “He’s getting to the second and third level before even being touched, and when that’s happening it’s not hard to have 2,900 yards.”

White ran for more than 1,700 yards last season, but the Warhawks lost 27-26 to Leroy in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs. He ran for more than 500 yards and five touchdowns in two playoffs games.

That success – and the disappointment of the Leroy loss – motivated White.

“The way I look at it, every year I try to work harder in the weight room than I did the previous year,” White said. “I try to run faster than I did the previous year. I just try to just do better on the field than I did in the past. … It really pushed me, and I wanted to get back to where we were last year, and do every better, and go even farther.”

But did anyone have expect White to be less than 600 yards away from the AHSAA single-season rushing record before the regular season is finished?

“Actually, I could have,” Lett said, “because of how hard the kid works. He’s always the first one here and always the last kid to leave.”

The four previous running back to eclipse the 3,000-yard mark – Blount’s Sherman Williams in 1990, Lynn’s Lee Cagle in 1996, Aliceville’s Kendal Gibson in 2000 and Dale County’s Jamarius Henderson on 2014 – used the playoffs to get there. Henderson’s 3,483 yards five years ago is the AHSAA record.

White has a chance to get to 3,000 yards in just 10 games. All he needs is 81 yards against a Barbour County defense that’s allowed at least 54 points in every game this season.

Then, it’s on to the postseason.

“What I’m looking forward to is hopefully getting to a state championship,” he said.

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