Wilmott emerges as capable back for Hopewell Valley
LAWRENCE >> Measuring in at a slim 5-foot-9, 140-pounds, ElijahBlu Wilmott hardly feels tired as he trudges off the field following a night’s work each week.
Since Week 2 of the season, the junior has received the football for a rushing attempt an average of 24 times per game. Curiously, his endurance never wavers with the newfound workload. A visit to Hopewell Valley’s athletic trainer is unnecessary.
“I just go home, take some Advil and call it a night,” Wilmott said.
This is the life of the Bulldogs’ unexpected feature back this season, recognized for his talents Tuesday as the 12th Man TD Club Offensive Back of the Week.
Wilmott garnered the award with his most telling evidence of perseverance yet: 221 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries last Friday in Hopewell’s 3420 win against Steinert, Wilmott’s fourth 100-yard game to date.
No one could have foreseen the Bulldogs’ run game in 2016 unfolding quite like this. Not even head coach Dave Caldwell.
Following the graduation of 1,800-yard rusher Joe Immordino, Caldwell anticipated Ben Schutsky and Nick DeGennaro leading a committee of backs for Hopewell this season. But both senior captains suffered significant injuries in the offseason, forcing Caldwell to turn to other options.
On Sept. 16 against Nottingham, after being converted to running back from wide receiver, Wilmott emerged.
“Sort of by committee, Elijah has risen to the occasion,” Caldwell said. “Has good vision and doesn’t really go down on first contact, is elusive and has good open-field speed. We’re fortunate to have him to rise to the occasion this year.”
Schutsky is out for the season with Lisfranc injury. DeGennaro returned last week from a broken foot. At this point, though, Hopewell’s preseason plans are irrelevant given the magnitude to which Wilmott is running the ball.
In five games, he sports 723 total rushing yards and five touchdowns. His responsibilties have skyrocketed following a total of 16 rushing attempts as a late-game backup to Immordino in 2015.
Wilmott doesn’t mind, swearing he had no idea how many times he even carried the ball last Friday until a member of the team informed him.
“I just focused on keep pounding the rock and getting positive yards in the game,” said Wilmott, who compares his shifty game to De’Anthony Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs. “Obviously I’m not a power back. I’m not going to lower my shoulder. I’m going to try to make people miss and just get in open space.”
Caldwell admitted Wilmott’s final total of 34 carries even surprised the coaches, an unintended consequence of the junior’s success. Moreover, Wilmott only leaves the field on point-after attempts. He is also a cornerback and returner on special teams.
“He’s working hard in the weight room and he’s definitely going to get bigger and stronger as he gets older and he continues work,” Caldwell said. “But we want to definitely keep an eye on him because they have to last an entire four quarters, and the season’s slightly over half over.
“After every game, I ask him, ‘How you feel? You feel OK?’ And he’s like, ‘Nah, I feel fine.’ It’s surprising to me, knock on wood, that he feels fine. I think that he’s elusive. Given he has a small frame, he never seems to take a square hit. He’s not a heavy, dense person so it doesn’t seem like he takes the impact of the hit. He usually bounces off the hit.”
To Wilmott, he is trained for this. In the offseason, the Bulldogs worked out daily from approximately 8 a.m. to noon. Within those morning hours, lifting, sprints, parachute running and heavy sled pushing were the norm. So he feels capable of sustaining his hot start down the stretch of the season.
“We worked very hard in the summer with Joe DeMarco our weight room trainer,” Wilmott said. “It’s tough in there. He definitely gets us prepared for the season.
“It’s pretty exciting, but I’ve just got to stay humble and thank the man upstairs, pretty much.”