Meet Evan Hull, Minnesota's Best H.S. Running Back

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It is tough to top this for an opening act.

Evan Hull ran for 387 yards and four touchdowns in Maple Grove High School's season opener Thursday night.

The thing is, for him, that is not at all unusual. After all, he is the state's best running back.

"I'm kind of like a bowling ball just a little bit. Just bouncing off of tacklers, doing spinnings," Hull said.

When you have a player of Hull's talent on your team, you use it. And so that is what Maple Grove does, a lot.

"Sometimes it can be a lot. Sometimes it can be a lot, for sure. But just having faith, having faith for sure, and just having that confidence that I'm being one of the hardest workers on the field," he said.

Hull is a workhorse back if there ever was one. Last year as a junior, he ran for more than 2,100 yards and 19 touchdowns -- leading the Crimson to state. The team seemed to just get better the more they used him.

In their four state tournament games, he ran for 10 touchdowns and averaged 226 yards a game. It is a role he embraces.

"I take a lot of pride in that, and I'm thankful that my teammates have enough trust in me to give me the opportunity," he said.

Coach Matt Lombardi calls Hull's work ethic "unbelievable."

"He truly loves the game. When he was a sophomore, he carried a ball to class every day!" Lombardi said.

Maple Grove graduated more than two dozen seniors off last year's team, including their starting quarterback and top two wide receivers. That means Hull we be asked to shoulder an even bigger burden this season – both on the field and as a leader.

"I have faith that my teammates trust me to really set an example. I think that's the biggest part of my job is to set an example for the younger guys, and show them what it means to be great," he said.

And now in his senior year, we will get to see what next level of greatness he has in store.

By the way, he may be even more impressive in the classroom. Hull has a 3.98 GPA.