THE LEADERBOARD

Georgia high school football stats leaderboard: Top rusher is a quarterback

Monroe Area’s Cooper Shumate has rushed for 755 yards in three games. The last QB who won Georgia’s rushing title also played for the Purple Hurricanes.
Monroe Area quarterback Cooper Shumate has rushed for 755 yards during his team's 3-0. That is the most rushing yards for a player in the state through three weeks of the regular season.
Monroe Area quarterback Cooper Shumate has rushed for 755 yards during his team's 3-0. That is the most rushing yards for a player in the state through three weeks of the regular season.
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27 minutes ago

A quarterback is leading the state in rushing, but it wouldn’t be the first time if Monroe Area’s Cooper Shumate finishes on top this season.

In 2018, Chandler Byron — also of Monroe Area — led the state while rushing for 2,795 yards, a state record for a quarterback.

It this Monroe Area style, or good fortune?

“It’s a little bit of both,” said Kevin Reach, in his 10th season as Monroe Area’s coach. “It’s the scheme we do. We try to do a plus one (a quarterback gets 10 blockers, but a running back gets only nine from a handoff), but Cooper would be a heck of a running back too if we just had him back there. But he throws the ball well enough, so he’s a dual threat.”

Shumate has rushed for 755 yards and nine touchdowns on 62 carries, an average of 12.2 per rush, for a team that’s 3-0. He rushed for a career-high 325 yards last week in a 49-17 victory over Habersham Central. He passed for 327 and five touchdowns the week before against Loganville. although that stands as an anomaly for a quarterback whose previous passing high was just 136 yards.

As a sophomore last season, Shumate rushed for 1,260 yards, getting most of that in the final five games, when he went over 200 yards three times, once in the playoffs.

As for the Byron comparisons, Reach isn’t discouraging that. Shumate wears jersey No. 2, same as Byron did.

“We give that No. 2 to a kid who has a lot of football savvy,” Reach said. “It usually goes to one of our higher players. Cooper is a lot like Chandler was. He does a lot of the same things. He grew up watching Chandler in youth leagues, and the Shumates and the Byrons are all friends. Cooper and Chandler are both quiet leaders. They talk with their helmet and shoulder pads and with how hard they work in the weight room. We’ve been blessed to have two great athletes at quarterback.”

Below are the Georgia High School Association’s leading rushers, passers and receivers through three weeks of the regular season.

Rushing

Passing

Receiving