High School

Eight touchdowns, 517 yards: Bolles’ Xander Edwards breaks Derrick Henry’s Florida record in historic game

The son of former NFL fullback Marc Edwards delivered one of the most dominant single-game performances in Florida history

Levi Payton

Bolles' Xander Edwards (25), a 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore, set Florida's record for rushing touchdowns in a game with eight on Friday night in a blowout win over Baldwin. Edwards broke former Yulee star Derrick Henry's record of six rushing TDs.
Bolles' Xander Edwards (25), a 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore, set Florida's record for rushing touchdowns in a game with eight on Friday night in a blowout win over Baldwin. Edwards broke former Yulee star Derrick Henry's record of six rushing TDs. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s often said that records are meant to be broken.

On Friday night, one of Florida’s most vaunted high school football marks - one once held by NFL star Derrick Henry - came crashing down.

Xander Edwards, a bruising 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore running back at Bolles High School in Jacksonville, rewrote the state record books with a performance for the ages. Edwards rushed for 517 yards and scored eight touchdowns in a 73-49 victory over Baldwin, breaking Henry’s single-game rushing touchdown record. Henry, the Baltimore Ravens’ All-Pro running back and former Yulee High School standout, had set the previous record with six scores in one game.

Edwards didn’t just edge past it. He blew right by it.

Xander Edwards Bolles Derrick Henry
High School on SI

His night will go down as one of the most dominant individual performances in Florida high school football history. Edwards carried the ball 38 times and scored from nearly every distance, breaking free for long runs and grinding out short-yardage conversions. His touchdowns covered 44, 22, 32, 41, 77, 59, 35 and 1 yard.

Edwards entered the game with 873 rushing yards on 101 carries and 12 touchdowns through five games, along with six catches for 68 yards. By the final whistle Friday, he had nearly matched that five-game production in a single night.

If his name wasn’t familiar before, it is now. One of the most highly regarded sophomores in Florida, Edwards already holds scholarship offers from Syracuse, Memphis, SMU, Pittsburgh and Arkansas State. After Friday’s showcase, his recruitment is almost certain to grow.

Social media lit up with clips of his long runs as word spread that Henry’s record had fallen. Fans across the state marveled at the feat, some wondering if the record was even attainable until Edwards’ breakout.

Bolles didn’t hesitate to ride its young star. Edwards handled nearly 40 carries in an old-school, run-heavy attack that Baldwin never found a way to slow. Even when the Indians answered with big plays of their own, Edwards countered with another score, powering the Bulldogs to their highest offensive output of the season.

Edwards also carries an NFL pedigree. He is the son of former Notre Dame standout and Super Bowl champion Marc Edwards, who played nine seasons in the league. The elder Edwards was a second-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 1997 and later won Super Bowl XXXVI with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. He also spent time with the Browns, Jaguars and Bears.

On Friday, though, it was the younger Edwards carving out a legacy of his own - and setting a Florida record that may stand for years to come.

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

Levi’s sports journalism career began in 2005. A Missouri native, he’s won multiple Press Association awards for feature writing and has served as a writer and editor covering high school sports as well as working beats in professional baseball, NCAA football, basketball, baseball and soccer. If you have a good story, he’d love to tell it.

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