Woodland-Cartersville’s Solomon James has been prolific this season rushing for 852 yards and totaling 1130 all-purpose yards with 14 total touchdowns. He has made the top 10 plays of the week three times this season (joining Ladd McConkey for the record), the most recent coming in Week 10 against SE Whitfield.
James took a handoff from the 25-yard line and immediately pushed upfield into the 2nd level of the defense. Several defenders tried to bring him down, but he dragged one, stepped out of another, and emerged from a pack of players with only green turf ahead. James hit the jets and finished off the nearly 80-yard touchdown run.
Like so many of James’ electric runs this season, he doesn’t go down on first contact.
“I credit my strength in my legs for being able to break tackles and pull off these runs. I front squat 440 and back squat 550,” he said.
That explains a lot. Those kinds of numbers are more akin to an upperclassman who plays on the line of scrimmage, not a sophomore running back.
“My mindset on the field is to gain as many yards as possible after contact and keep the ball high and tight.”
From our last interview with James, he wanted to maintain a 100 yards per game average to finish the year.
“For the most part, I’ve been able to keep over 100 yards a game going,” he said.
That includes his best game of the season against Allatoona, where he rushed for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns. Plus, last week was a great game for James. He rushed for 157 yards, averaging 13 yards per carry and 4 touchdowns in a blowout 42-3 win over SW Whitfield.
This week, they face off against Cedartown, another game where the junior is set to produce eye-popping numbers, and help his team to its 2nd win of the season. Last year, they lost 52-0, but we have a feeling this season’s game will be a lot closer, and that’s largely due to the emergence of Solomon James at running back. We don’t think Cedartown has a good answer to stopping him.
After Cedartown, they have one more opponent against Dalton, who has certainly struggled against the run, so getting over 1000 yards and earning All-State honorable mention honors are within reach. This creates the perfect drop into the offseason, where James is hungry to improve.
“I want to improve my weight during the offseason. I want to be around 200-205. I need to gain about 10-15 lbs. to meet that goal,” he said.
James is almost impossible to tackle in 4A, a more bulked-up version, and that kind of transformation could expand just personal achievements and raise the floor for the entire program. Becoming a difference-maker is a sure-fire way to grab colleges’ attention, and we believe James is set to do exactly that, so be sure to follow @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter/X to hear the latest on him and athletes across the state.
