MONTICELLO – Lawrence County junior fullback Johnathan Eley hadan excellent game against the Crystal Springs Tigers last Fridaynight.

In the Cougars’ 47-0 Division 6-4A win over the Tigers, Eleyrushed the football 20 times for 225 yards and four touchdowns.

For his accomplishments, Eley has been selected as The DailyLeader’s Offensive Player of the Week for the tenth week of the2000 football season.

Eley, who stands 6-foot and weighs 210 pounds, runs a 40 in4.65. In the weight room, he bench presses 310 pounds and squats450 pounds.

For the season, Eley has rushed for over 1,250 yards and scored19 touchdowns

Eley was pleased with being named Offensive Player of the Weekbut wanted to share it with his Cougar teammates.”

“It tells me I have done alright,” said Eley. “But if it wasn’tfor the team, I wouldn’t have gotten it.”

Eley had some big carries in last Friday’s victory over CrystalSprings. The biggest came in the fourth quarter. Eley exploded fora 53-yard run on his final TD of the game.

“I like the fullback draw,” said Eley. “I like that runningplay.”

Eley mentioned the members of the offensive line who protect himand open the holes for him. They are center Jerry Hall, guardsMichael Smith and Melvin May and tackles Joey Foster and LeeMason.

Eley is enjoying the success of being on a defending statefootball championship team. He credits head coach Danny Adams withthat the team’s success.

“He has done a heckuva job since coming here,” Eley said. “He(Adams) gets after you. He wants you to give 100 percent.”

Adams said Eley has been a pleasant surprise in a massiverebuilding campaign. He coached the Cougars to a perfect 14-0record and the Class 4A state championship in 1999. The Cougarslost 18 seniors to graduation, most of them starters.

“Johnathan is close to 1,300 yards and that is remarkable forthe type team we have,” said Adams. “He runs hard and he is a smartrunner. He finishes off his runs real strong.

“He’s really just a rookie because he didn’t play much lastyear,” Adams continued. “He’s still learning. He should have agreat future. He does a good job in the classroom and he has a goodattitude.”

This Friday, Lawrence County is at King Field in Brookhaven toface the Panthers in an important Division 6-4A game which willdecide the runner-up berth in the division. McComb is the Division6-4A champ.

“We need to stay focused, play hard and give it 100 percent,”stated Eley. “We need to play all four quarters hard.”

Eley said he is a big fan of the Florida State Seminoles.

In profession football, Eley follows the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.He’s also a fan of the LA Lakers in the National BasketballAssociation and plans to play on the Lawrence County basketballteam this winter.

In the classroom, Eley’s favorite course is mathematics.

Eley said he would like to pursue college sports when hegraduates. His biggest goal is to be successful.

“I want a lot to play higher sports (college),” Eley said.”Sports isn’t everything. I want to succeed in life.”

Eley said he wanted to thank his family and fans for supportingLawrence County this season .”I want to thank my mom and the fansfor supporting the football team.”