Colby Workhorse
Hard-working Stepka breaks rushing record
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Last Sunday, for the first Sunday this fall, Aaron Stepka did nothing. No looking at film from the previous day's game, no workout. Nothing to do but recover from the pounding of lugging the football 44 times. It felt good.
Staff photo by JONATHAN MIANOColby College tailback Aaron Stepka shattered the New England Small College Athletic Conference single-season rushing record with 199 yards against rival Bowdoin College last weekend. click to enlarge
"It was the first Sunday I didn't have anything to do," said Stepka. "I ordered my meals in. I didn't even feel like walking down the stairs. I spent the day on the couch, relaxing, letting the whole thing sink in."
The whole thing was the Colby College football season that ended with the previous afternoon's 32-27 win over rival Bowdoin College. If you had to pick one White Mule who earned a day of slacking off, it's Stepka, because the whole thing also included some major revisions to the conference record book.
The sophomore halfback set New England Small College Athletic Conference records in single-season rushing yards (1,370) and carries (293). He ranks third in NCAA Division III in the most recent statistics in yards per game (171.3), and he tied a Colby record with 11 touchdowns. In just two seasons, Stepka has run for 1,851 yards and 17 touchdowns, and should be a contender for conference Offensive Player of the Year honors for this season's performance. This season, Stepka became one of the elite halfbacks in the nation, and Colby fans can smile knowing his college career is barely half over.
"He's the best back I've ever blocked for," said Colby sophomore fullback Chris Duncombe, of Athens. "And the best part is, we've got another two years of it."
"I told him 'Go up there and show them what you can do' " said Bruce Wearne, Stepka's coach at Farmington High School, in Farmington, Conn. "He has great vision, great sense. If you carry it 35 times a game, you get better."
Stepka's performance this season bears Wearne's thesis out. In five of Colby's eight games, Stepka carried the ball more than 40 times. Only once — in the season opening game at Trinity College — was Stepka held under 100 yards, when he ran the ball a season-low 21 times. There was the 42 carry, 217 yards and three touchdowns day against Wesleyan University There was 43 carries, 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Bates College.
And there was the fourth quarter drive against Bowdoin. Down 27-26 and 73 yards away from the Polar Bears end zone, the Mules mounted a drive which primarily consisted of Stepka carries. With 10 seconds to play, Stepka took the handoff for the 13th time on the 14-play drive and scored from three yards out. The win means more to Stepka than how it was achieved.
"I really had no idea (about the record) until the last couple of weeks," he said. "I knew it was likely, but if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. It's a team record, anyway. It takes all the guys blocking for you to even do it in the first place."
"That last drive was great," said Colby head coach Tom Austin following the Bowdoin game. "Even when (Stepka) gets tired, he's in such good condition that his level of slippage isn't that great."
Stepka came to Colby after a year at The Taft School, in Watertown, Conn. Prior to Taft, where Stepka worked on improving academically, he starred for Wearne at Farmington. As a senior, Stepka ran for more than 2,100 yards as the team finished 11-1, losing in the state championship game.
"I had some great running backs. Terry Wooden (who later starred at linebacker for Syracuse University and played for the Seattle Seahawks) and Brandon Bliss (currently at the University of Utah)," said Wearne. "Aaron broke all their records."
"At Taft it was a little tougher," said the 5-foot-10, 191-pound Stepka. "I weighed as much as the offensive line and I was playing outside linebacker. But I'm not trying to get to the NFL here. I just want to use football to get into the best possible academic situation."
After listening to some overtures from a handful of 1-AA, Division II, and other NESCAC schools, Stepka settled on Colby. As a freshman, he joined a team coming off a share of the NESCAC title and a wide open battle at running back. Throughout the 2001 season, Stepka and senior Joe Murray split the carries. Stepka finished the season with 481 yards rushing and six touchdowns and was named conference Offensive Rookie of the Year.
"When I came here, they never really had a definite starter," said Stepka. "I didn't think it was going to be me, but it was there for the taking. It was something to work for."
When Austin marvels at Stepka's almost robotic ability to stay fresh in the fourth quarter, he can point to that work as the prime reason for Stepka's durability. Stepka follows a two-pronged off season approach. Lift for strength and size in the winter, and combine speed workouts with enough weight lifting to maintain strength in the spring and summer.
"I don't really notice (lack of fatigue), but that's what they told me," said Stepka. "It's something anyone can attain."
"At our practices, every time one of our backs ran the ball, I had them run to the end zone," said Wearne. "At practice, (Stepka) would have sprinted 80 yards 10 times in 15 minutes. He's a tough, durable kid."
With two years left at Colby, Stepka has some goals, and they don't involve breaking his own marks.
"I just want to win, and I know other guys want to win, too," said Stepka. "What hurt us this year wasn't our talent level, what hurt us was a lot of mental mistakes. We need to find a way to address this. A big part of it is how hard we work in the offseason."
Stepka has approximately 10 months before he plays another football game, another 10 months before he defends his conference rushing title and record. There's a lot of Sundays in the next 10 months, and don't be surprised if the last one is final Sunday Stepka takes off.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242 tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com