Boston Latin

Photo: Belmont High’s Mekhai Johnson.

Belmont High School senior Mekhai Johnson solidified his place as one of the premier running backs in the state with a career highlight performance of 368 yards and five rushing touchdowns to lead the Marauders to a 50-20 win over host Boston Latin at Boston’s White Stadium in Boston.

Under the Friday night lights, Johnson tore through the Wolfpack defense for touchdown runs of 69, 8, 32, 22 and 24, to power Belmont to its third win of the season (3-5), matching the number of victories the Marauders had last season.

Johnson’s rush total is likely a new school one-game record while his 106 points on 17 rushing touchdowns are second only to Plymouth North’s Myles Uva’s 22 TDs and 132 points.

Johnson scored this first four TDs in between two Latin scores, to lead the Marauders to a 27-14 lead at halftime. Belmont kept the ball in Johnson’s hands and one the ground overall as the Marauders marched for 485 team rushing yards as junior QB Cal Christofori scored from a yard out to put the game out of reach.

Belmont finished off the scoring with a Ben Jones 15-yard scamper and a 32-yard field goal from Aiden Codgan.

Next Friday, Belmont will travel to Somerville to take on the Highlanders, which coincidently lost its game 50-20 to Masconomet Regional.

It’s official; Belmont High School Football is in the midst of a winning streak.

In the penultimate game of the 2014 season, senior running back Max Jones scored three touchdowns while the defense created four turnovers as the Marauders have run off three-consecutive victories by defeating visiting Boston Latin, 21-2, on Friday night, Nov. 14.

“I’m really proud at the defense who had the shut out [the two-point safety late in the fourth quarter was scored against the offense] because they stepped up as the offense was having a hard time moving forward,” said Belmont Head Coach Yann Kumin.

Kumin pointed to a play late in the fourth quarter as an example of the team’s ethos in the past three games. After a Wolfpack receiver caught a quick pass and ran by the sophomore defensive back Ben Jones towards an apparent touchdown. But Jones ran down the receiver and wrestled the ball from him at Belmont’s five-yard line, making the recovery.

“[Jones] could have given up on the play but he caught [the receiver] and stripped him. That’s what we talk about when we say ‘Next play, big play’,” said Kumin.

The game was hardly an easy go for the Marauders as Boston Latin’s defensive front line caused problems for Belmont’s running backs Jones and junior Mekhai Johnson.

In response, Kumin looked to the passing arm of sophomore quarterback Cal Christofori who went 12 for 25, going to juniors Justin Wagner and Robby Aiello and long-threat senior Jaehmar Paul who caught passes of 40 and 26 yards.

Belmont got on the board with three minutes left in the first quarter with Jones rushing 10 yards up the middle of the field in the end zone. The score occurred after junior defensive lineman Justin Arroyan caused and recovering a fumble.

Jones second TD was a 40 yard romp off the right side in the third quarter and a 60 yard sprint in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Jones, who scored three touchdowns in last week’s game against Salem, ran for 185 yards.

The Marauders are now off for nearly two weeks before the annual Thanksgiving Day game vs. Watertown.

“We’ll have time to rest up guys who are dinged up and target some areas that need to addressed before we meet a very good Watertown team,” said Kumin.