Anthony Griffith of Eielson raced into the Alaska high school record book Saturday afternoon.
Griffith broke the single-game rushing record by running for 516 yards and eight touchdowns on 42 carries in a 52-34 victory over Nikiski.
His performance erased the one-year-old record of 488 yards and seven touchdowns set by Kenai's Jace Daniels, also against Nikiski.
"Tony's a special kid," Eielson coach David DeVaughn said. "It was just a tremendous effort on his part and his offensive line's part."
A 5-foot-9, 195-pound running back, Griffith had 220 yards and four touchdowns by halftime. A couple of explosive runs in the second half — touchdown sprints of 63, 93 and 77 yards — carried him past the 500-yard threshold.
Those long runs allowed Griffith to flash the speed that earned him state track titles in the 100 and 200 meters last spring.
"He's got a good combination of speed and power," DeVaughn said.
It was the second straight huge game for Griffith. Last week in a 77-0 win over Voznesenka, Griffith flirted with the single-game record by rushing for 424 yards and seven touchdowns.
The 424-yard performance came on 11 carries. Saturday's record required a body-bruising 42.
That's a lot of carries, acknowledged DeVaughn, who said Griffith usually shares the workload with two other running backs.
"But their defense was dictating some of the plays, and we had to call his number a lot today," DeVaughn said.
Griffith's touchdowns came on runs of 32, 12, 8, 6, 63, 93, 77 and 36 yards.
In three games this season — he missed one with an injury — Griffith has racked up 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns. Eielson, which plays in the small-school Greatland Conference, has a bye next week, leaving Griffith with just three more regular-season games.
Perry Monzulla of North Pole set Alaska's single-season rushing record of 2,860 yards in 2005.