Cameron Small ends season in a rush, claims Wyomissing Physical Therapy POW

By Mike Drago Last updated Dec 4, 2024

Muhlenberg's Cameron Small scores against Conestoga Valley in Week 10. (Emily Grube photo)

Cameron Small became Muhlenberg’s single-single rushing leader early in Friday’s win against William Allen – then he went for something even bigger.

The 5-9, 182-pound junior went over 200 yards for the fifth time in 11 games and finished as one of just four Berks runners with 2,000 yards in a season.

“It feels amazing,” Small said after Muhls’ 24-0 victory over William Allen, one that netted them an Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A championship. “I didn’t feel like I would ever achieve this.”

Small’s record night came as part of a game in which he rushed for 209 yards on 20 carries, with a pair of touchdowns and a two-point conversion run. He earns Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

“Cam’s a very, very tough runner,” said Muhlenberg coach Rob Flowers. “Man, he does an excellent job running the ball in front of his pads.”

Small entered Friday’s game needing 41 yards to match Jason Reinhart’s program record of 1,883 yards, set in 1998.

He finished the season with 2,051 yards, third-most in Berks history. David Gilmore set the mark of 2,403 in 1983. Nick Singleton ran for 2,059 yards in 2021. Fleetwood’s Tyler Emge ran for 2,000 yards in 2014.

He is just the 10th player in Lancaster-Lebanon League history to reach the 2,000-yard plateau.

Along the way Small set a program single-game record with 346 yards against Exeter and became the first Muhlenberg back to rush for 200 or more yards five times in the same season.

One of those, a 35-carry, 290-yard effort, came against unbeaten Conestoga Valley, in Week 10. That made him the only back in Berks history to rush for 290 or more yards three times in the same season. (He also rushed for 295 against Daniel Boone.)

Small ran for 100 or more yards eight times; only Ben Ortiz, who did it 11 times in 2013, had more. (Reinhart also had eight 100-yard games in 1998.)

His 250 rushing attempts in a season are second-most in program history, behind Ortiz’s 268. His 35 carries against Conestoga Valley are second-highest in a game, behind Frank German’s 37 in 2011.

His 23 touchdowns and 152 points, are each third-most ever in a season at Muhlenberg.

He’ll enter next season needing 1,652 yards to match Reinhart’s program career rushing mark of 3,703, set in 1999.

“We didn’t know that we had something special with Cam until we saw him working in the offseason,” Flowers said. “Obviously, we were super-impressed with the way he moved.”

Players considered for Player of the Week honors are nominated by their coaches or by members of the MikeDragoSports.com coverage team.

This is the fourth consecutive season that Wyomissing Physical Therapy has sponsored the Offensive Player of the Week award. At the end of the season an Offensive Player of the Year will be selected.