Brandon McAnderson might have eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards, but with the way the Lawrence High senior runs the ball, it probably felt more like 3,000.

McAnderson, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound running back for the Lions, finished with 2,024 career yards during Lawrence’s 42-28 win against Olathe South on Friday. But anyone familiar with McAnderson’s bruising running style knows those yards didn’t come easy.

“He’s got what, 700 yards (this season)? Probably 600 of those have come between the tackles,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “And anytime you carry the ball between the tackles in this conference, you’re going to get hit.”

McAnderson is second among Sunflower League backs with 761 yards this season on 97 attempts, averaging 7.8 yards a carry. Yet, as the Lions’ sometime fullback, he blows through would-be tacklers and runs over most defenders.

As one Shawnee Mission North coach said three weeks ago, “He’s a load.”

It’s a reputation that McAnderson enjoys.

“I like getting that kind of name,” he said. “I’m not a guy who’s gonna go around you, but I’m gonna run over you.

“You can start to see people move out of the way, and you see more arm tackles.”

McAnderson joined some exclusive Lawrence High company by doing his thing. In the last 20 years, only three Lions have rushed for more than 2,000 career yards 1994 graduate Jason Thoren (2,037 yards), 1989 graduate Mickey Kimball (2,074) and the all-time leader, 1992 grad Michael Cosey, who amassed 3,281 yards and 52 touchdowns as the Lions’ feature back in 1990 and ’91.

But Cosey just played offense. McAnderson has been a mainstay on offense and defense the past three years, also an LHS rarity.

McAnderson

Wedd said that before Free State High opened in 1997, sophomores rarely carried the football. In 1986, Kimball had 293 yards on 62 attempts, but that was the exception. Yet, as a sophomore in 2000, McAnderson flourished, gaining 559 yards on 116 carries. It’s that extra push that has helped him most as he has barreled toward 2,000.

“He’s come out and played the way a senior should play,” Wedd said. “It’s only happened because of the hard work he’s put in in the weight room and in the off-season.”

Indeed, McAnderson spent some of the ’01 season injured, but came into the season more than ready. In the opener against Leavenworth, he ran 32 times for 186 yards, but his workload has decreased since then. That’s partly because of the emergence of senior Chris Fulton, third among Sunflower backs with 539 yards this season, and also because he’s so valuable on defense.

And though McAnderson doesn’t have Fulton’s breakaway speed, he has what Wedd calls football speed.

“He’s never been caught from behind, so that just means he carries his pads well,” Wedd said. “Some guys are track guys that can move, but he’s not slow. He’s got good forward lean and he has good instincts and good fundamentals.”

That means McAnderson’s not done in his record-book assault. He’s on pace for about 1,700 yards this season and could go for more if the Lions make the playoffs.

But first, Lawrence has a showdown with undefeated Olathe North, the league’s top defensive team, on Thursday.

“It’s been awhile since Lawrence High’s been on top,” he said. “This would be huge for us to get a win against them.”