Photo by John AlbrightClark’s Jock Tilghman romped for 172 yards and an 80-yard touchdown in an opening 20-16 win over Churchill.

Jock Tilghman has come a long way in a short time.

And the Clark running back is still going.

A year after making an impressive jump from the JV “B team” to a starting running back, the senior has picked up where he left off with a quick start in helping the Cougars to a 2-0 record.

Tilghman romped for 172 yards and an 80-yard touchdown in an opening 20-16 win over Churchill. This past week, he helped the Cougars bounce back from a 17-0 deficit with 207 rushing yards in a 24-17 victory.

"Jock has had two quality games,” Clark coach Lloyd Alexander said. “He’s a real competitor and studies the game. It’s always great seeing kids like that step up and have success.”

Although the senior running back is off to a quick start, his first confidence builder came a year ago with a Hollywood-type performance. He spent most of the early part of the season at cornerback, but an injury to running back Barry Pillow in the Marshall game thrust Tilghman into the role.

He sprinted for 60 yards on his first carry, but a holding penalty wiped out the play. No problem. Tilghman proved he could come up big other times as he finished the game with 249 yards rushing and five touchdowns in a 38-20 victory.

From then on, Tilghman kept producing.

”I was really surprised when I got moved to varsity, because I was expecting to be on the JV,” Tilghman said. “When I got there, I was thinking I would be on the scout team, but the coaches must have seen something. When I went in for Barry, there were a lot of nerves.

“I had played a few plays before, but it wasn’t like being out there a long time. I just put my head down, held onto the ball as tight as I could and followed my linemen. It showed me I could play running back and that if I put my mind to it I could do a lot of stuff.”

Tilghman found out something quickly. The time he spent at running back on the scout team turned out to be an advantage.

“Playing in the scout team helped me, because I was used to getting hit all the time,” Tilghman said. “I still had to adjust, because I hadn’t played running back since Pop Warner. I found out I couldn’t just go out there and run. I had to know all the assignments and learn how to block. Once I got there, it was one of the happiest times of my life.”

Just to make sure the happy times continue, Tilghman spent the offseason preparing to become better at his craft. During that time he made another impression by finishing with the second best time in the 40-yard dash (4.5) during a coaches' combine.

Now, he's putting the experience and work from the offseason to use. And the support is there. Quarterback Hayden Greenbauer adds another weapon to the offense and the experience from a stronger offensive line has made Tilghman even more comfortable.

"The credit goes to our offensive line,” Tilghman said. “They’re stronger this year. I’ve worked on getting stronger and faster. I’ve worked on my vision and knowing when to cut. I’m trying to run for daylight.”

Although Clark is off to a quick start, Tilghman knows the real tests are just beginning. District 28-5A is showing signs of being another tough battle for the four playoff spots. If the Cougars intend to be in that number, the senior running back knows the solid performances must continue.

Tilghman won't have trouble finding motivation. He got a taste of the playoffs a year ago, but the experience was too brief as Southwest handed Clark an opening loss in overtime. This season he hopes to make it a longer experience.

"The past two games gave us a lot of confidence,” Tilghman said. “It shows we can hang with some of the best teams and grind it in the second half. This team is pretty tight, because we have been together a long time. We have to stay focused and not take anyone lightly. We have to take everyone seriously.”

Running for daylight won’t hurt, either.