By Michael Letendre
It’s September and it’s official – scholastic football is a mere eight days away as Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern will soon take the field for Week 1 action.
This is always the best time of the year if you enjoy a little pigskin play as that first game of the season brings unapparelled excitement to the Mum City.
And both the Rams and Lancers are looking to take the first game by storm in 2022.
On September 9, Central Connecticut Conference challenger Manchester travels to Bristol Central while Eastern tangles with RHAM in a huge rematch from Week 2 from last season.
Both team’s ground games will be looking a bit different as Central’s Victor Rosa and Eastern’s Alex Marshall graduating from their respective programs.
That means opportunities for different players and there might by a youngster on one of those teams, some promising athlete, who might – someday – challenge one of the top all-time rushing records in town.
But that’s going to take a lot of running here, there and everywhere as the top rushing total in Bristol scholastic history is a number of epic proportions.
And who is the all-time leading rusher in Bristol scholastic history?
It’s former Bristol Central stud Tim Washington.
Here’s a quick look at his amazing bio:
Tim Washington, Bristol Central, 7,712 yards (1998-2001)
*Rushed for 1,990 yards in 1999, added a blistering 3,005 yards in 2000 as a junior and scooped up 2,711 yards as a senior in 2001 before heading off to play collegiately at Syracuse.
The lowdown: Washington absolutely assaulted the Connecticut scholastic state football records book during his stint for the BCHS program.
It’s no surprise that Washington has three of Central’s top-five single season rushing records in school history, capped by his record of 3,005 yards in 2000.
His total of 2,711 yards in 2001 is good for third place all-time at Central and when Washington was just getting warmed up as a sophomore, he tallied an impressive 1,990 yards for fifth place.
The 5-foot-10, 185 dynamo became the state’s all-time leading rusher by the completion of his career at Central in dramatic fashion.
Of course, Washington, Connecticut’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior, also zipped up a school and state record of 449 rushing yards against Platt back on October 13, 2000 – then only the fifth Connecticut player to tally 400-plus rushing yards in a scholastic game.
And a year later, he pounded Southington for 424 yards on November 9, 2001.
The Syracuse grad originally had the top four single game performances in Central’s program history before Central’s newest recruit at UCONN – Victor Rosa – burned Tolland for 406 yards last season which is the third highest total for the Rams.
Washington notched 42 touchdowns as a junior (another state record), one better than Rosa in 2021 (41).
He was remarkable in the fact that he collected 25 consecutive 100-yard rushing games and 12 consecutive 200-yard rushing games, leading to more state records.
Along with those 42 touchdowns, Washington established a new state record in points in a season with 294.
As a senior, Washington nabbed 37 TD’s – third all-time at BCHS – and added another 22 as a sophomore in 1999.
He earned All-Conference, All-State and won every award in between over a remarkable career at Bristol Central.
Washington was recognized by USA Today Connecticut Player of the Year as a senior and was a SuperPrep All-American.
He was a top-five prospect in New England and ranked the No. 35 running back in the country by SuperPrep as a senior.
Overall, Washington ran for 7,712 yards, amassed 9,021 total yards from the line of scrimmage (he even played a little quarterback for the Rams), collected 101 touchdowns and scored 710 points over his scholastic career.
Washington was a blur in motion and a complete bulldog on the gridiron from his days at Muzzy Field.
And don’t discount what he was able to accomplish collegiately, especially in the classroom.
Washington was a 2003 BIG EAST All-Academic Team selection and earned spots on the 2002 Fall, 2003 Spring and Fall, and 2004 Spring and Fall Athletic Director’s Honor Roll at Syracuse while carrying the highest GPA on the team.
Washington was the walking, talking definition of a student athlete.
As a freshman for the Orangemen in 2003, he made 42 carries for 187 yards and a touchdown but injuries and general tomfoolery slow his progress from that point.
Washington eventually moved on from upstate New York and attended UMASS as grad school transfer.
In 2006, he totaled 55 carries for 205 yards and three touchdowns for the Minutemen which was good for third place on the squad that season.
He also had nine catches for 93 yards and made a couple tackles on special teams, displaying his versatility on the collegiate level.
Washington also played a little hoop along the way as well at Central, establishing himself as one of the Mum City’s greatest athletes of all time.
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