Rushel Shell went through his usual game-day routine. He went to a teammate's house for a pregame pasta dinner -- and then ate up another defense for dessert.

This is what he has been doing for most of his young football career, but last night was somewhat different for Shell because he never feasted on a team quite like he did against West Allegheny. You can bet the Indians had their fill of him.

Shell, Hopewell High School's sensational sophomore halfback, stretched his streak of 100-yard games to 13, but went a lot farther. He rushed for a career-high 349 yards and led Hopewell to a 34-26 victory against visiting West Allegheny in front of a packed house at Tony Dorsett Stadium.

"Is that what he had? 349?" said West Allegheny coach Bob Palko before laughing in disbelief. "Well, if he didn't have those Division I college scholarship offers before, he should get them now."

Palko talked with reporters after the game about how it was nice for his team to play in such a big game (Hopewell was ranked No. 2 in the Post-Gazette's WPIAL Class AAA rankings and West Allegheny No. 4). He talked about some keys to the game. Then, he stopped and said, "Hey, fellas, let's be serious. The difference in the game was Rushel."

Shell, showing speed, great balance and also power, gained his yardage on 23 attempts and scored three touchdowns on runs of 84, 77 and 10 yards. He had 211 yards on 10 carries at halftime.

"I didn't know I had that many yards," Shell said. "But I knew if the line blocked, we knew we were capable of anything."

The game was billed as a battle of the running backs -- and it lived up to it. Shell came in as the WPIAL's leading rusher while West Allegheny's Mike Caputo was fifth. Caputo does not have the breakaway speed like Shell, but he still rushed for 218 yards on 27 carries.

"People got their money's worth," Hopewell coach Dave Vestal said.

Shell (5 feet 11, 210 pounds) already was well on his way to one of the best careers in WPIAL history, and this performance put him over 3,000 yards. And remember, he's only a 10th-grader, 18 games into his career. He has 3,008 yards. This was the seventh 200-yard game in his career.

"He's everything they say he is," Palko said.

Shell also helped Hopewell inch closer to finishing the regular season undefeated for the first time. Hopewell is 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Parkway Conference. West Allegheny is 5-2, 4-1.

"He just took over the game, and we executed up front very well on the line, and he just makes it go," Vestal said. "You have to get him the ball. Shame on you, if you don't get him the ball."

Hopewell got Shell the ball often in the Wildcat offense, with direct snaps going to him. Shell had a few long runs in the offense. This was the first time Hopewell used the Wildcat with two running backs in the backfield.

"I like it," Shell said of the Wildcat. "You can pick a lot of places you want to run."

Although Hopewell earned a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, West Allegheny made things close the rest of the game. With 25.2 seconds left, West Allegheny scored on a 52-yard desperation pass from Jared Buck to Aaron McKinney to make it 34-26. On the play, two Hopewell defenders and West Allegheny's Ben Simmen leaped for the ball, collided, and it bounced to McKinney at the 5, and he took it into the end zone.

But Hopewell recovered the onside kick to clinch the win.

Hopewell led, 20-14, at halftime. Shell scored on runs of 84 and 77 yards, and Matt Hundenski on a 1-yard QB sneak. Caputo scored on runs of 1 and 68 yards.

A 74-yard run by Shell set up Hundenski's 1-yard scoring run to make it, 27-14, with 5:36 left in the third quarter. West Allegheny answered with a long drive, capped by Caputo's 1-yard touchdown run.

Shell's 10-yard touchdown run made it 34-20 in the fourth quarter, and it stayed that way until McKinney's late score.

"The thing you have to remember about Rushel," Vestal said, "is he's only a sophomore, and he'll only continue to get better."

That's scary for opponents.

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