Rockford large-school football leaders after Week 1: Nine rushers top 100 yards

Rockford football contenders came out of the gates running.

Literally.

The five NIC-10 games, plus Rochelle, combined for eight 100-yard rushing performances in the opening week of the 2024 high school football season. Those same six games featured only one quarterback throwing for more than 85 yards.

And the man at the very top of those nine 100-yard rushers might be a player you have never heard of before. While Harlem's Jahmani Muhammad, who is closing in on the NIC-10's all-time leading rushing record, got off to a strong start, little-known teammate Matt Swanson had an even bigger game Friday to lead all area large-school runners. Here are Rockford's large-school football leaders after Week 1:

More: Top performers in Week 1 of Rockford-area high school football

RUSHING

Player, School, Att-Yds, TD

Matt Swanson, Har, 13-124

Tyeshaun Whittie, East, 13-122, 1

Roman Villoalobos, Roch, 14-119, 1

Ben Bucher, North, 6-113, 2

Jahmani Muhammad, Har, 17-117, 1

Lashawn Gathright, Jeff, 14-107, 2

Dylan Manning, Roch, 5-107

Cam Verner, Free, 11-106, 2

Zy’Air Lee, East, 17-101, 3

Erick Roman, North, 3-95, 1

Dwayne Broom, Har, 5-89, 2

Grant Gensler, Roch, 9-89, 3

Kurt Smith, Hono, 5-74, 1

Peter Eziagulu, Aub, 3-70, 1

PASSING

Player, School, Comp-Att-Yds, TD, INT

Sebastian Bracius, Jeff, 12-27-162, 1, 0

Julian Jones, Belvidere, 15-27-81, 0, 1

Dominic Cacciatore, Boy, 5-7-64, 0, 0

Carson Lewis, Roch, 5-7-61, 1, 0

Nate Johnson, Har, 4-7-61, 0, 0

Greyson Weber, Guil, 11-21-60, 0, 2

RECEIVING

Player, School, Rec-Yds, TD

Michael Townsend, 4-95, 1 TD

Jack Tilton, Roch, 2-52, 1 TD

Lashawn Gathright, Jeff, 5-40, 0 TD

Ryder McCauley, Boy, 1-36, 0 TD

Cam Schmitendorf, Har, 1-34, 0

Erick Roman, North, 2-32, 0 TD

Cole Schmall, Hono, 2-31, 0 TD

Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford large-school football leaders after Week 1: Nine rushers top 100 yards