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About the only thing that seems to make North Medford senior Eli Spence uncomfortable on the football field these days is talking about himself. If there’s anyone who values a team-first mentality more than Spence, you’d be hard-pressed to find them. It’s what left him floating from position to position the last two years as a valuable member of the Black Tornado football team, and what’s keeping him from taking too much credit for what has already been a record-breaking season in his first full turn at running back. By running for 244 yards last week against Aloha, Spence was able to eclipse his second school record of the year — and maybe the most impressive — by upping his single-season rushing total to 1,757 yards on 237 carries. The previous record was set by Ryan Folsom after he rushed for 1,743 yards in 2005. “It’s special that I got the record and I’m excited about it,” says Spence, “but I feel like I shouldn’t take any of the credit. I think it should go to our offense as a whole and how much we ran the ball and how much we used running in our offense to help get that.” In North Medford’s season opener, Spence set another school mark when he ran for a single-game record 343 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-27 win over McNary. Back then, like today, the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder values more in the actions of linemen Parker Landon, Jullian Stone, Tony Bench, Kika Stone and Romello Tialavea and the rest of his supporting teammates. “Getting the record was pretty cool, I guess, for me,” continues Spence, who also has a receiving TD and a kick return TD this season. “I owe it to practically everyone on the offensive side because, as a unit, it takes everyone when I run the ball. It takes my linemen, of course, and it takes people guarding perfectly on the outside for me to get what it takes to get a good run.” It also takes a pretty special player to keep churning out big yardage as Spence has done, averaging a whopping 7.4 yards per carry with 21 rushing scores — four shy of equaling another single-game school record of 25 TDs shared by Folsom (2005) and Kerry Curtis (1993). “The remarkable thing is it’s been done in eight games,” says first-year North Medford head coach Steve Turner. “Not downplaying everybody else that’s played here, but to get that many yards in eight games in this day and age? He takes a beating. I don’t know how many carries he’s had, I’m not a big stat guy, but he’s taken a beating. And to take that beating and continue to play, that says something about you.” As one might expect, Spence doesn’t even take credit for that. “I think I owe that to my brother Wyatt and to my brother Will,” he insists. “Will was a great example of just get back up and keep on going and don’t feel sorry for yourself. My brother Wyatt tells me just to rage and keep on going and just don’t stop, so I keep that in mind and just don’t stop.” For all the outside help, it’s still that big No. 44 that keeps catching everyone’s eye on the field with his willingness to give everything he has on every play. “He’s a real competitive person,” says Turner. “He’s got a lot of fire in his belly and plays with a lot of heart, and that stuff doesn’t show up on stat sheets. You talk to the other coaches that have played us and they’ll tell you how important he is to our team. You read comments in the paper of what other coaches say about him and getting an opponent’s respect is one of the reasons why a lot of people play. He has that kind of respect from other coaches and players, and his own teammates.” Spence says he finds all that very flattering, as well as the level of support he carries into every game. “It’s a great feeling that I have a lot of people supporting me and telling me to do good and just doing nothing but supporting me to do my best,” he says. “My team wants me to do my best and everyone is trying their hardest to do something great.” Where Spence seems to not be getting support is in the northern part of the state, where he is getting very little due despite ranking, statistically, as the top running back at the Class 6A level. “It’s always kind of fueled me, that maybe you don’t know who I am but after the game you probably will,” says Spence, “and I’m OK with that. I hope I can prove to people that I’m a good player.” What’s also surprising is how little Spence is being recruited at the college level given his size, uncanny speed and undeniable passion for the game of football. “There’s a lot of people asking for transcripts and asking personal questions but still no scholarship,” says Spence, who carries a 3.0 grade-point average and has cleared all the ACT/SAT benchmarks. “I do wonder,” he adds of his limited recruitment. “I don’t know ... I really don’t know.” Part of it could be playing in the southern part of the state, which doesn’t nearly get the trained eye it deserves. Another part may be that Spence’s immense versatility works against him in certain ways after shining at tight end, linebacker, defensive end and running back at North. Spence has competed at camps from California-Berkeley to UCLA to Oregon State, as well as at Nike’s The Opening. “There they looked at me and they’re like, ‘What position do you play?’” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘This year I play running back but I also play tight end and I can play linebacker ... I can play anywhere you really want me coach.’ And they were kind of shocked and didn’t know what to do with me.” Wherever he may wind up and whatever position he may end up playing, Spence says he’ll always look back fondly on his time as a Black Tornado. “I’m pretty excited that my name’s going to be up there (on the school record board),” he adds, “but I say we’ve got to get a couple more yards before it’s over. We’ve got one more (regular season) game, and hopefully more after that.” Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected] , www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry