The Canon-McMillan running backs spread the field on opponents and with two star athletes as part of the package, they spread the attention among each other as well.

It is not easy to take attention away from sophomore Mike Hull, who racked up 545 yards (10.3 yards a rush) in non-conference play during the season's first four weeks.

But senior Jeravin Matthews requires just as much attention from opposing defenses.

A Northwestern University recruit, he does it all for the Big Macs, returning kicks, catching passes, playing defense, and, oh yeah, running the ball. He had 249 yards on just 32 carries, a nifty 7.8 yards per carry average, in the Big Macs' first four games.

He was somewhat limited in the first few weeks of the season because of some cramping problems due to the hot, humid weather. He solved that problem by making sure he was properly hydrated throughout the week leading up to the game.

Both of them ran into some significant resistance in the team's Great Southern Conference opener against Bethel Park. Hull gained just 31 yards on 11 carries and Matthews 7 on eight attempts.

With seven touchdowns, Matthews, a 5-foot-10, 165-pounder, led the Big Macs (2-3, 0-1 going into this past Friday's game at Upper St. Clair).

"It's a nice tandem," Big Macs coach Guy Montecalvo said. "Michael has speed and great size and Jeravin has tremendous speed and elusiveness.

"[Jeravin] is a much better open-field runner and he is making better cuts."

Matthews was held to just 27 yards of total offense against Bethel Park in a 20-7 loss to open conference play. The Black Hawks shut down him and his backfield partner.

Montecalvo said teams use a variety of approaches to slow down Canon-Mac's running attack, but blitzing is not one of them.

"We don't see a whole lot of it because if you bring your linebackers inside, our backs have the ability to get to the perimeter and take it the distance," Montecalvo said.

Opponents usually keep their inside and outside linebackers at home to shut down the outside game.

"Teams try to stop me from getting to the corner, that's what I like to do and they play people out there so I can't reach the perimeter," Matthews said.

The Big Macs have been hit hard by injuries and at the positions where Matthews wants to see them less, fullback and offensive line. An abundance of talent at fullback turned into an abundance of injuries after Brad Strimel and Jon Pozonsky both went down earlier this year.

Against Bethel Park the Can-Mac running attack was also missing 6-foot-6, 330-pound lineman Jeff Bush for most of the game and was forced to play offensive lineman Alex Pihakis at fullback.

Splitting carries in the backfield does not bother Matthews, instead he likes having Hull alongside him as he takes attention off himself.

"Either one of us is very capable of running the ball, there is not any head butting in the backfield, we are pretty unselfish," Matthews said.

"If one of us gets the ball, the other blocks the way he'd want to be blocked for."

Montecalvo was a former track coach for 25 years during his time at neighboring Washington High School. He still runs a speed program for two weeks in the summer that Matthews attended. He has won titles in the 200-meter and long jump and Montecalvo clocked Matthews' 40-time at an impressive 4.3 seconds.

In Canon-McMillan's second win of the season against Greater Latrobe, The Big Macs had three 100-yard rushers, including Matthews who piled up 121 and scored three touchdowns on only six carries.

In a 28-13 loss against Shaler Area, Matthews tied the game for the Big-Macs with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

"Jeravin sees the field well. He is one of the better threats we've had," Montecalvo said. "He gives you a dangerous guy back there and has grown a lot in that area since he was a sophomore."

Montecalvo noted that many teams have opted to kick away from Matthews.

Matthews credits his coach with getting his name out there to colleges and he selected Northwestern over Eastern Michigan and Army.

He made his decision one week after visiting the Northwestern campus in Evanston, Ill., a Chicago suburb.