North Penn’s Khalani Eaton in The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media 2021 Football Athlete of the Year

If there was one play that showed exactly why North Penn’s Khalani Eaton is The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media 2021 Football Athlete of the Year, it was what the senior did on a 2nd-and-11 94 yards from the end zone late in the first half against Central Bucks West.

Taking a handoff, Eaton sliced through the right side for a quality gain before being swarmed by a group of defenders just past the 20-yard line. But instead of the play being over, the senior running back kept shedding tackles, continued to move forward and about 10 yards later Eaton had worked free and from there speed away down the field.

“I go until I heard I whistle blow, you know what I’m saying,” said Eaton after the game. “So I just kept moving my feet, just kept moving my body and as soon as I seen grass, I just started getting big.”

The spectacular touchdown, which North Penn coach Dick Beck described that night as “probably the best run I’ve ever seen,” was among the many stellar plays Eaton’s tenacious, hard running created to help the Knights go undefeated in the regular season and claim the Suburban One League National Conference championship.

Eaton recorded his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season – doing so last year despite playing just five games due to the COVID-19-shortened schedule – as he finished 2021 with 1,796 yards and 27 touchdowns on 211 carries. He averaged 149.7 rushing yards per game as Knights went 11-1 with an offense that put up 39.7 points per contest.

Eaton capped his Knights career with 4,426 yards – collecting 1,592 as a sophomore then 1,038 as a junior – with 59 career rushing TDs. He reached the 4,000-yard mark in style at home in Week 9 against Central Bucks East, eclipsing the career milestone on a 64-yard touchdown in the second quarter of the 28-21 victory.

“It means a lot honestly,” said Eaton following the game of going past 4,000 yards. “It just shows all the hard work. Since (I was) a young child, I’ve just been playing football, since I was like 8-years-old, just all that hard work. It’s kind of emotional, it means a lot to me.”

Eaton went over 100 yards in 11 of North Penn’s 12 games as the Knights reached the District 1-6A quarterfinals and won their first SOL conference title since 2018. Twice this season, Eaton surpassed 200 yards, his highest total coming at War Memorial Field against CB West Oct. 15 – his 94-yard TD run capping a 205-yard, two-TD effort in the first half as Eaton finished with 240 yards on 20 carries in a 28-14 win.

His other 200-yard performance came in the season opener as the Knights played their first game in the rebuilt Crawford Stadium. Eaton rushed 238 yards on 27 carries and scoring four touchdowns – three after halftime – as North Penn beat defending District 1-6A champ Souderton 42-27 Aug. 27.

Eaton’s first two TDs came from a yard out but on a 4th and 1 in the third quarter he burst through the line and raced away for a 40-yard score and 35-24 lead. A Souderton field goal in the fourth cut the margin to eight but Eaton added another one-yard score with 5:34 remaining.

“I’m not even going to lie, on my personal side my first half wasn’t that good,” said Eaton after the Week 1 win. “Second half, I corrected my mistakes and I ran it as I should.”

In Week 2 as North Penn recorded a season-high in points in a 58-58 win over Abington, Eaton went for 125 yards and two TDs with the senior following with 12 yards and three scores on 12 carries as the Knights blanked Pennsbury 35-0.

Eaton added two touchdowns in Week 4 against defending District 1-5A champ Upper Dublin, scoring both in the first half – his second from five yards out gave NP a 28-3 lead with 5:21 left before halftime as the Knights went on to earn a 35-20 win. Eaton ended the night with 167 yards on 19 carries

Against Pennridge a week later, Eaton provided the winning score as North Penn improved to 5-0 – finding the end zone from 18 yards out for a 21-7 lead at 9:56 in the fourth as the Knights won a tight battle with the Rams 21-14. He also ran for a seven-yard TD in the second quarter as he collected 155 yards on 25 carries.

In Week 6, Eaton had 117 yards on 20 carries, ran for two second-quarter TDs and also scored on a reception in the third – catching a pass from Ryan Zeltt and taking it in from 14 yards as the Knights topped Neshaminy 42-21 to avenge their lone loss of 2020.

After a 150-yard, three TD effort in a 48-20 road victory at Truman, Eaton put together his season-high for rushing yards against West, amassing more than 200 yards before the break. In the second quarter, he sliced through the left side for a 35-yard TD to make it 21-0. The Bucks pulled within 21-8 but three snaps later, Eaton fought off a host of tackle attempts on his incredible 94-yard score.

“As soon as I saw the grass, I couldn’t even believe I was still running on my feet,” Eaton said of the play. “Soon as I got to about the 10-yard line, I was super gassed but I just had to push that too.”

Eaton hit the 4,000-career mark with his lone touchdown against CB East, going for 125 yards on 19 carries as the Knights held off the Patriots 28-21. North Penn secured the outright SOL National title a week later as Eaton shone on a rainy, windy night at Central Bucks South, rushing for another 94-yard TD as the Knights went to 10-0 by beating the Titans 35-7.

Eaton was just shy of another 200-yard night against South, finishing with 198 yards and two scores on 16 carries. His first TD came on a 15-yard run in the final seconds of the first quarter then put the Knights ahead for good by going through the middle then speeding down the left sideline to reach the end zone from 94 yards out.

“We when lined up on the long run that he had – what was that like 94 yards – I said to myself, I said I think he’s going to break this one cause it looked like it was there,” said Beck of Eaton’s long TD run after the win.

A shoulder injury limited Eaton to just one carry as the North Penn beat CB South again 49-21 in the District 1-6A first round. But Eaton came back to provide the Knights with another stellar effort in the quarterfinals, rushing for 157 and four touchdowns – his last on a 10-yard run on the first play of overtime – on 19 carries as North Penn was edged by Ridley 56-55 in OT.