Neuqua Valley running back Andrew Barkley is not related to Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley.
Nor is he related to former Chicago Bears quarterback Matt Barkley.
“My dad’s name is Matt Barkley, but he’s not that Matt Barkley,” Andrew Barkley said.
But Barkley did a good impression of an NFL running back on Friday night. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior rushed 28 times for a career-high 206 yards and four touchdowns to lead the host Wildcats to their first victory of the season.
Barkley scored on runs of 13, 3, 25 and 82 yards, with the last scamper putting an exclamation point on Neuqua Valley’s 35-12 win against DeKalb in Naperville.
“Andy Barkley had a phenomenal game,” Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus said. “He has worked really hard to get to where he’s to, so I was proud of what he was able to do tonight.
“He willed us to win. He willed our run game today, for sure. That was fun.”
The fun began for the Wildcats (1-4) on the fifth play of the game, when senior two-way lineman Ryan Mascari batted DeKalb quarterback Cole Latimer’s pass up in the air, chased it down and intercepted it. Mascari returned the pick, his second of the season, 10 yards to DeKalb’s 13-yard line. Barkley scored from there on the next play, racing untouched around the left end.
That was a familiar feeling for Barkley. While the Barbs (0-5) held him to 6 yards or less on 18 of his 28 carries, they failed to lay a hand on him on three of his touchdown runs.
“It’s really nice when I don’t get touched during the touchdown,” Barkley said. “It felt really nice, especially during homecoming in front of all of these fans.”
It took Barkley six seconds to score his first touchdown and not much longer than that for him to share the credit for his success afterward.
“I felt like we all came together and we just played as a team,” he said. “And I want to thank my offensive line for bearing down and becoming one when they needed to. They did a really great job.”
That’s music to the ears of linemen such as Mascari and senior Isaiah Johnson.
“It feels good to get some props because O-line normally doesn’t get any props,” Johnson said. “At least we get our blocking acknowledged.”
Johnson said Barkley meshed especially well with his blockers on Friday.
“Andrew knew how to hit the gaps,” Johnson said. “Even though the gap closed, he saw another gap open and he was right there. He was ready to go.
“We see it from him every day in practice, every day in the game. He knows what he’s supposed to do, and he gets it done.”
While the 82-yard scoring run was by far the longest run for Barkley, the most exciting was probably his previous touchdown, when he made two great spin moves to elude several defenders at DeKalb’s 15 before sprinting to the end zone. That made it 28-6 with 5:49 left in the third quarter.
“Andy’s a beast,” Mascari said. “He makes our job easy, and he makes us look good. It’s easy to block for a guy who is out there running hard.”
Barkley wasn’t the only one. Junior receiver Daniel Robinson scored on a 56-yard reverse, and the bend-but-don’t-break defense also got an interception from senior defensive back Nick Pape.
“This does give us a boost, and this shows we have discipline and we can win games,” Johnson said. “We know what we have, and we know what we can do to prosper and overcome challenges that we may face.”
Duplicating Barkley’s fierce competitive drive is one way to win games.
“If you don’t come out with the mindset that you’re going to be dominant, you’re not going to play as well,” Barkley said. “I feel like we had that mindset, and we executed very well.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
