Aug 31, 2022 3 min read

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The tiny school located near Greensboro is about to have another of its football players reach a major milestone.

Landan Stevenson is only 175 yards away from reaching the 4,000-yard rushing milestone. He will become the third player in Mapletown history to reach that mark.

The other two are Derek Bochna, who amassed 4,792 yards as a four-year starter from 1986-89; and Dylan Rush, who ran for a school-record 5,782 yards before graduating in 2019.

Rush set the WPIAL’s single-game rushing record by gaining 524 yards on 39 carries and scored seven touchdowns in Mapletown’s 48-32 victory over Avella in the 2017 season. The previous record was 492 yards, set by Armstrong’s Zane Dudek in the 2016 season.

“It (4,000 yards) has been on my mind a lot more,” said Stevenson. “I never thought this was a possibility. I was just here to run the ball. I never really worried about stats.”

Mapletown hosts Frazier tonight and the Commodores had a dismal Week Zero loss to California, 65-13. Head coach George Messich, who has coached all three 4,000-yard rushers at the school, said he won’t take Stevenson out of the game until he reaches the mark.

“They were all gifted athletes,” Messich said. “They did things you couldn’t coach. As far as handling them, there were no problems. They were great kids. It was incredible to watch. They’d run a play that should have gained 12 yards and get 60.”

Bochna is currently teaching at McGuffey High School and coaches at Waynesburg Central. Rush has a teaching position at Mapletown.

“I’ve talked with Derek Bochna before, during 7-on-7s at Waynesburg,” said Stevenson. “My brother was real good friends with Dylan and he’s teaching at our school now.”

Mapletown is coming off a 42-0 victory over Avella. Stevenson rushed for 174 yards and scored three touchdowns in that game. A win over Frazier tonight would give Mapletown its first 2-0 start in this century.

“One of my goals coming in this season was to hit 4,000,” Stevenson said. “I’m going for 4,000 but to get the (school) record would be just amazing.”

Here are five running backs who had major accomplishments on their way past 4,000 rushing yards.

1. Journey Brown of Meadville rushed for 722 yards in a game to set the PIAA record for yards gained in a single game. It happened against Dubois in 2015.

Rush is second all-time and third place goes to Eastern York’s Alex Cooley, who ran for 500 yards against Hanover during the 2012 season.

2. Dominick Bragalone of South Williamsport rushed for 4,717 yards in a the 2014 season, tops in the state. Second place went to Zach Barket of Schuyllkil Haven, who ran for 4,187 yards in the 2008 season.

3. Bragalone also set the state record with 67 touchdowns in 2014.

4. Hopewell’s Rushel Shell is the all-time rushing leader with 9,078 yards (2008-11).

5. The record for most touchdowns in a career, rushing, receiving and returns is 159 by Gaige Garcia of Southern Columbia from 2016-19.