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Arline Earns Record

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By CHRIS ERRINGTON, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 7, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Helmet in hands, his No. 3 jersey untucked and now more brown and green than white thanks to another night of carrying the football more than 20 times, Ridgewood bruising senior running back Byronell Arline appeared ready to play another game right then - even if many of his teammates could only think of catching their breath.

That's what happens when you spend the entire fourth quarter on the sidelines.

For Arline, Ridgewood's 49-14 victory at River Ridge Friday night was as typical as so many this and past seasons. The 6-foot, 230-pound bruiser rushed 21 times for 174 yards. He scored five touchdowns and by the time the final 12 minutes were to begin, Arline was on the sidelines as younger backs took over. Except this time, the statistics weren't ordinary and not all his carries were typical.

On his second carry of the game, a nondescript 2-yard plunge up the middle, Arline became Pasco County's all-time leader in yards rushing - barely five games into his final season. And, while it won't surprise many to hear Arline speak of how special breaking the record is to him, what he and Coach Chris Taylor attribute as the biggest key to his success, may.

'I don't think there's any doubt that it's been Byronell's time with the basketball team that's made him a much better runner that he was before,' Taylor said. 'Sure, he's really developed as a big back in the weight room, because he's put a lot of time in there. But, as big as he is, he's also deceptively quick and he's definitely picked up a burst this season and that's come from playing for the Rams' basketball team.'

The prototypical 'power' forward often showcased the quick first step he used to get around basketball defenders to dodge would-be tacklers Friday. When River Ridge loaded the line of scrimmage early, Arline gained just 17 yards on his first four carries.

Not surprisingly, the tactic helped keep the game close. But, when Arline began using his speed and agility to cut to the outside, the yards - and touchdowns - came in bunches. Runs of 47, 10, 32, 32 and 9 were highlighted by quick bursts to the sideline, accompanied by deft use of downfield blockers, weaving in and out of holes before exploding to the end zone.

On both of his 32-yard touchdown runs, Arline was seemingly pinned along the sideline for a moderate gain, only to either out-run a defender or use a shifty move to fake him out of position and score.

A season after gaining 1,717 yards on the ground, Arline has 1,130 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. For his career, the running back has gained 4,221 documented rushing yards - he played five or six games at running back as a freshman when Ridgewood didn't keep very good records. Land O'Lakes' Godfrey Pestana held the previous county mark of 4,057 rushing yards in 2000.

'With the way we run him in practice, he's made for games like this,' Taylor said. 'We knew we could be physical up front and run Byronell right at them and that's what we did. We're going to ride him for as long as we can.'

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