During the third quarter of the game against Ithaca, the PC football team found themselves down 6 to 8. To make things worse, star running back Ashton Spitzack had just gotten injured and was going to be out for at least a few weeks. It wasn't looking very good for the PC football team. Eli Adams was put into the game for Spitzack, but he only had two carries for a total of 13 yards. The Chieftains were able to manage the win in this close game, but they were still unsure of who would take over at running back while Spitzack was out.
The next week in practice, the PC coaches were looking for someone to take over at running back. During the practice week, Eli Adams made significant strides and was named starting running back for the game against Southwestern. Most people would be very tentative about starting a sophomore running back, but everyone on the team trusted that Eli could get the job done. Senior running back Joe Vogelsberg said, “Eli had proven his work ethic in practice, and I had complete confidence that he would succeed in his first game on varsity.”
Most of the team knew that Eli was a very talented kid. He dominated at the JV level his freshman year and the start of this year, but making the jump from JV to varsity isn’t easy, especially if you have to make that transition in just a week. Most players get an entire offseason to prepare to play on varsity, but Adams didn’t have that kind of time. “I was definitely nervous and anxious to get out on the field,” Adams said, “but the upperclassmen all had confidence in me, which really helped.”
Adams went on to have a monster game against Southwestern. He had a total of 237 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on just 15 carries. He had an even bigger game the next week versus the BSMS Knights, where he had 178 rushing yards, with 4 touchdowns, on only 12 touches. He also threw a 15 yard touchdown in that game. “It felt great to have such good games. I was happy to be able to help out the team” said Adams. Adams was named Suppz.com Athlete of the Week for his performance against BSMS.
With Adams' breakout games, he earned a spot in the running back rotation once Spitzack returned. He has continued to make big contributions to the team even though he is splitting carries. Spitzack said about Adams being in the rotation, “I like it; it gives me a break after long runs, and it allows both me and Eli to perform at a high level on every play.” This was evident in the Pec-Argyle game when Spitzack and Adams combined to average 17.8 yards per carry.
With Spitzack being a senior, the future seemed uncertain for the Potosi-Cassville backfield. Now, with Adams’ success early in his career, it is safe to say that the future of the position is in good hands.