Grain Valley News
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
  • News
  • Community
    • Community Guide
    • Best of Grain Valley
    • Events Calendar
    • Job Board
    • 2025 Garage Sale Directory
    • Voter Resources
  • Support
    • Advertise
    • Become A Sustaining Member

​news

Grain Valley's DJ Harris breaks out in 48-13 rout of Patriots

9/18/2021

 
​by Michael Smith
     When Grain Valley freshman DJ Harris took a right-side toss to the end zone from 28-yards out, the Grain Valley student section started a chant.
     “He’s a freshman! He’s a freshman!” the crowd chanted.
     That’s a chant that is common when a freshman does well in any high school sport. While the chant can sometimes be a knock on the other team for letting a freshman do something productive in their sport, it likely was meant more as a compliment for the talented ball carrier.
     That touchdown was one of three for Harris on the night as he helped power his Eagles to a 48-13 rout of Truman Friday at Moody Murray Memorial Field.
     Harris, who serves as the No. 2 running back behind senior starter Jaxon Wyatt, has proven to be a strong complementary piece. He has four rushing touchdowns on the season and that’s second most on the team behind quarterback Caleb Larson.
     On Friday, he finished with 59 yards on eight carries.
     “He had a fumble last time, but tonight he came back strong and got three touchdowns and didn’t fumble,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “That shows maturity and growth.”
     Allie isn’t the only one who has been impressed with Harris. Wyatt had high praise for the freshman after the game.
     “He’s going to the NFL,” Wyatt said.
     So, what did Harris think about Wyatt’s comments?
     “I have to keep working for that. There is still a lot more to come and a lot to learn,” Harris said with a chuckle.
     He will have his opportunity to potentially be the lead running back next season. For now, that honor belongs to Wyatt, who also had a big game. He finished with 72 yards on 12 carries and his first two touchdowns of the season.
     “Jaxon is just a dog,” Harris said. “The running back duo we have is amazing.”
     Grain Valley quarterback Caleb Larson added 58 yards on eight carries and a score. He also completed 4 of 11 passes for 117 yards. The Eagles (2-2) totaled 324 yards of offense.
     They led 17-0 at the end of the first quarter, held a 34-0 advantage at halftime and had its biggest lead in the fourth quarter of 48-0 before Truman scored two touchdowns against Grain Valley’s backups on defense.
     The Grain Valley varsity defense created eight quarterback pressures and the team overall held the Patriots (0-4) to just 170 total yards of offense, with 136 yards of those coming against the Eagles’ backups when the game was already out of reach.
     The defense was put into a good position for success largely because of kicker Austin Schmitt. The junior got eight touchbacks on 10 kickoff attempts. The other two were perfectly executed onside kicks. One was recovered and the other was dropped out of bounds.
     Schmitt, who is also a two-time all-state selection for the soccer team, easily made two field goals from 32 and 34 yards out.
     “He’s a dude,” Allie said. “He’s worked really hard over the summer, and he’s taken to coaching really well and he has a special leg.”
     In practice, Schmitt can make field goals from 50-plus yards out. His strong leg is a reason why he’s debating between playing football or soccer in college.
     “It feels good that I can kick them that far now,” Schmitt said. “My freshman year, I could maybe kick it 35 yards. Now I can kick it 55. I just put in the work over the summer.”
     Anthony Greco led the Eagles in receiving with three catches for 60 yards. Linebacker Gage Forkner led the defense with five tackles and 1.5 coming by loss.
 
 
 

Picture
Freshman DJ Harris, who serves as the No. 2 running back behind senior starter Jaxon Wyatt, has proven to be a strong complementary piece. He has four rushing touchdowns on the season and that’s second most on the team behind quarterback Caleb Larson. On Friday, he finished with 59 yards on eight carries. Photo credit: John Overstreet
Picture
Jaxon Wyatt finished with 72 yards on 12 carries and his first two touchdowns of the season.
Photo credit: John Overstreet

Picture

Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    5 Questions
    Arts
    Beacon: Missouri
    Best Of Grain Valley
    Burton Kelso
    Business
    Cathy Allie
    Celebrations & Transitions
    Census
    City Of Grain Valley
    Civics 101
    Columnists
    Community Profile
    Covid-19
    Covid19
    Downtown Grain Valley
    Dr. Bug
    Economic-development
    Education
    Elections
    Financial-health
    Fitness
    Food Inspections
    Good News
    Good-news
    Grain-valley-assistance-council
    Grain Valley Fair
    Grain Valley Historical Society
    Grain-valley-partnership
    Grain Valley Schools
    Health And Fitness
    Health-and-fitness
    Home And Garden
    Jackson County
    Kansas City Royals
    Kindness Awards
    Ld
    Letters
    Local News
    Looking Back
    Lorne-meinershagen
    Missouri House Of Representatives
    Missouri Independent
    Missouri Senate
    Musings From The Middle
    Neighborhood View
    On-the-job
    Pets
    Police Blotter
    Public Notice
    Quick-news
    Rdn
    Recreation
    Sally-whitaker
    Scene In Grain Valley
    Seniors
    Senior-send-off
    Sports
    State Of Missouri
    Sunshine Week
    Technology
    The Beacon
    Tracey-shaffer
    Transportation
    University Of Missouri Extension
    Waynes-world

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018

Grain Valley News

This work by Grain Valley News is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Contact Us

PO Box 2972
​Grain Valley MO 64029

Privacy Policy
​
(c) 2025 Grain Valley News
Picture
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
  • News
  • Community
    • Community Guide
    • Best of Grain Valley
    • Events Calendar
    • Job Board
    • 2025 Garage Sale Directory
    • Voter Resources
  • Support
    • Advertise
    • Become A Sustaining Member