The day after Emporia High’s huge 34-33 upset victory over Junction City last Friday, one might have expected to see senior running back Edd Noonan covered in ice packs and heat wraps, sore from head to toe.
Noonan had played almost every down on offense, defense and special teams against Junction City, rushing for two touchdowns and a career-high 206 yards on a whopping 43 carries while also playing linebacker on defense, which saw him get a critical fourth-quarter sack and recover a fumble that set up his own game-winning touchdown.
But despite getting physically pounded play after play, Saturday morning rolled around, and Noonan said it felt like any other day after a game.
“I had a few ice packs on my legs,” Noonan said. “That’s about it.”
It’s how Noonan goes about his business when it comes to football.
Practice hard, stay quiet, be a leader and don’t complain.
It’s a persona that the soft-spoken Noonan has adopted so well that few people even took notice of the game he was having against Junction City until it was over.
Even his teammate in the backfield, quarterback Taylor Euler, didn’t fully realize the magnitude of Noonan’s performance until after the final play.
“It didn’t hit me that he ran over 40 times until after the game, and then I saw the stats, and I was like, ‘Whoa,’” Euler said. “When somebody’s doing that good, you just have all the trust in him and you don’t really think about it.”
In his third year as the starter at EHS, Noonan is quietly producing one of the best seasons ever for an Emporia High running back.
As the Spartans (6-3) enter Friday night’s first-round State playoff game against Wichita Southeast, Noonan has 1,331 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns on 222 carries this season. That makes for an average of nearly six yards per carry.
And he’s done it all with opposing teams consistently making him their No. 1 concern when facing the Spartans.
The key to Noonan’s success, EHS coach Bill Lowe said, is the back’s ability to make people miss, and if he can’t make people miss, he makes defenders work to bring him down.
“He usually doesn’t go down on one hit,” Lowe said. “That makes it extremely tough to stop him because other teams have to commit more than one guy to try and stop him.”
Noonan possesses another redeeming trait. He’s selfless.
When asked how he approaches games knowing teams are going to key on him, Noonan turns the conversation to one about blocking for Euler or sophomore running mate Mark Kolmer. Like any true running back, he also heaps credit on his offensive line after every big game.
And then there’s his willingness to play linebacker on defense.
While not his idea, Noonan said he never thought once about saying no when the EHS coaches approached him about the idea after the Spartans suffered through several injuries midway through the season.
“I didn’t really see myself playing linebacker this year, but the coaches said it would help us out,” Noonan said. “I was definitely willing to do it. I never said, ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’”
With Emporia now in the playoffs for the first time since 2002, the stakes become even greater for the Spartans if they want to keep advancing.
First up is Wichita Southeast (4-5), a team that has comparable athletes to Junction City. The Buffaloes also got a big win of their own two weeks ago — a 28-13 District victory over Wichita East and the highly touted duo of brothers Bryce and Arthur Brown.
With the increased pressure comes increased expectations for Noonan.
“He’s had a good season, but he’s not finished yet,” Lowe said. “That’s what we expect out of him. He knows what’s expected of him and he knows that we expect that out of him week in and week out.
“He’s going to have to give us that same effort that he had against Junction City this week if we want to have a chance to win.”
The thing is, you won’t hear Noonan complain about those expectations. In fact, he welcomes them.
“I’m going to work as hard as I can,” he said. “If it comes to 40 carries again, if that’s what it takes, then of course I’ll do it.”