By GARY VAN CLEAVE
Special to Great Bend Post
Scoring 13 touchdowns last year was “pretty good” according to Central Plains senior fullback Eli Hurley, but not good enough.
“My mindset is to never settle for less, always go get some more,” the Oiler freight train locomotive said.
The Hurley Express is about to leave the Claflin Depot Station. His chuggernaut mentality is ready to wreak havoc on opposing defenses whether he’s running the football plowing through defensive lines or opening up holes big enough for the next locomotive.
“When I block just like when carrying I’m gonna hit you in the mouth,” the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Hurley said.
“Eli has this kind of mentality that is different from anyone else I’ve ever played with,” Oiler junior running back Isaac Heredia said. “It’s like a kill or be killed mentality. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants and what he wants is that touchdown with the ball in his hands.”
“Eli brings power and knowledge to the table,” graduated senior and Cloud County track signee Blaine Hickel said. “He’s such a knowledgeable fullback that he knows when to make the smallest adjustments in the middle of a play to make it work for him. On the power side he will run through anyone that steps in the hole and he’s great with yards after contact.”
Hurley rushed for 706 yards and added 113 receiving yards for 819 yards of offense.
Notable numbers for a fullback whose goals this year include reaching 1,000 yards rushing.
“A thousand yard season would mean so much to me,” Hurley said. “As a fullback, a thousand yard season doesn’t really happen very much so that would be great if I could get that thousand yards. It’s gonna take a lot of hard work and dedication, but I feel like I could get it.”
“It’s a tough task that’s for sure but if anyone can get a 1,000, he will be the guy to do it,” Hickel, a 1,000-yard rusher last year for the Oilers, said. “It all comes with knowing what defense you face every week and how you can make adjustments to your game to get them yards, but at the end of the day it’s about the big guys up front making holes and lanes for you to run through.”
The school single-season rushing record is 1,500 yards.
“Oh I would love that man,” Hurley said of the school record. “That would mean so much to me and to do it as a fullback would mean even more.”
Hurley isn’t an average fullback.
“I’m a faster fullback than most people think,” Hurley said. “I’m one of the guys that once that ball is snapped, I’m coming across that line and I am going to hit you in the mouth every play. I’m gonna make sure no one wants to go against me or tackle me at all.”
That ferocious mentality comes naturally.
“Oh that’s 100% my dad. He was just like that when he was my age,” Hurley said. “He was a hard worker and one of the kids that’s gonna hit you like you better know that he is coming every play. College football would be awesome. I would love to play, my dad played for Garden City and that’s the big reason I want to go play just to prove that I can do it too.”
Hurley also stands out in track where he runs the 100, 200, 4X1 as well as long jump and triple jump. He went to state in triple and got 11th.
He has received interest from Bethel and Gardner-Webb (NC) for football.
“Last year was a big step up for my high school career. I got faster, stronger and way more agile,” Hurley said. “I got a lot of touches so I just kinda put confidence in myself that I can go get that extra yard. That extra yard turned into 10 extra yards so that’s just like showing that I can do way more than people think I can. I give that to my O-line, without an O-line no ball carrying even happens.”
“Anytime we need a block, he’s the guy to go up and hit stick him and keep going and getting more blocks,” sophomore quarterback Brodie Crites said. “When he has the ball, he is a straight freight train and he’s gonna hit you and keep running until he has two or three guys on trying to take him down. He can still keep going, he is a really good ball player and a great teammate.”
“Mean and fun to watch,” graduated senior lineman Connor Freis said of Hurley.
Hurley runs a 4.74/40 and benches 225 pounds, cleans 235 and squats 305.
“My mindset is no one is touching the guy that’s running that ball,” Hurley said. “If it takes sacrificing my body then that’s what I’ll do.”
“He's an absolute dog, he is strong and agile and very explosive,” senior back Joel Schreiber, who scored six rushing touchdowns, said. “I wouldn't want to take him because he can lay a hit.”
“He is a very strong fullback and can outrun almost every single defensive player he comes up against,” Heredia said.
“Eli is a hard-working man who pushes everyone to be the best they can be and is an all around great human being,” junior defensive end Armando Vasquez said.
“I want to leave here knowing that people are going to remember not just a good football player, but also me as a good person,” Hurley said. “I don’t want to be the guy that was always talking trash. I want to be the guy that was helping everybody up and saying good job stuff like that.”