Episcopal Academy, a small, private school in Montgomery County, finds it difficult to schedule non-conference opponents. So when Episcopal added Governor Mifflin to its 2020 slate with ease, coach Todd Fairlie was curious.
“Why do they want to play us?” Fairlie pondered. “Then I realized no one else probably wanted to play them. Everyone knew this kid was coming up.”
That kid was Nick Singleton.
Now, Singleton is a budding star at Penn State taking the college football world by storm. If people didn’t notice when the first-year phenom racked up 179 yards against Ohio, he captured everyone’s attention last Saturday, gashing Auburn’s defense for two touchdowns in front of a national TV audience.
It was impossible to miss what Singleton did to the Tigers. It was a statement performance from the freshman — one that brought flashbacks to Fairlie and every high school coach who, at one point or another, had to game plan for him.
Episcopal ended up missing Singleton in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic limited Fairlie’s program to only three local games. But when Episcopal hosted Governor Mifflin last fall, it went as expected. Singleton rushed for 289 yards and five touchdowns, guiding the Mustangs to a 49-26 win.
Fairlie knew they were going to have their hands full. The five-star talent — and by that point, a Penn State commit — had offers from every school that mattered. Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan were on him after his sophomore year. Alabama tried to sway him before his senior season.
A year after running ruthlessly through Episcopal’s defense, Singleton did the same to the Crimson Tide’s rival at Jordan-Hare Stadium. And Fairlie looked on from afar with a touch of perspective.
“We didn’t feel great about our effort against him. Then you watch Auburn the other day and it’s like, ‘Hey, maybe we didn’t do so bad,’” Fairlie said with a laugh. “He’s a special and unique talent. We’re happy to see him stay in our state and play for Penn State. We’ve quickly become fans of his.”
Fairlie isn’t the only one, either.
John Lorchak has coached high school football for 29 years. He has spent most of that time at Muhlenberg, where he coached against Governor Mifflin the last two years. But Lorchak also saw Singleton before he really took off.
Lorchak was an assistant at Wilson in 2018. In the second week of the season — and the second week of Singleton’s high school career — Wilson beat Governor Mifflin by two scores. It wasn’t until after that game that Governor Mifflin coach Jeff Lang moved Singleton from the slot to the backfield.
Even before Singleton blossomed as a ball-carrier, tallying 24 touchdowns as a ninth-grader, Lorchak knew the next three years would be a challenge.
“You could see the athleticism as a freshman,” he said. “Obviously he was going to put on size and strength. But the one thing that stood out was his explosiveness that he developed. He became such an explosive athlete, such an explosive running back. It was hard for teams to contain him.”
It was also hard for players and coaches to dislike him.
“He’s such a humble individual. He’s willing to talk to anyone, and he takes everything in stride,” said Lorchak, whose Muhlenberg teams allowed 281 yards and six touchdowns on only 13 total carries in 2020 and 2021. As a senior, Singleton rushed for a jaw-dropping 2,059 yards and 44 touchdowns.
“Luckily, we only played him once,” Mechanicsburg coach Anthony Rose said.
And it was a doozy.
Mechanicsburg was undefeated when it went up against Governor Mifflin in the 2020 Division 3 5A semifinals. The Wildcats were no slouches, and their plan was to make Singleton go east and west, not north and south. Maybe — just maybe — Rose’s players could swarm to the ball and limit the damage.
Mechanicsburg was overwhelmed by the 2021 Gatorade national player of the year. Singleton rushed for 207 yards and four scores in a 68-14 win.
Rose and his players knew Singleton would be a problem. They also knew he’d be an issue for college teams, which has increasingly become the case.
After a relatively slow start at Purdue, Singleton burst onto the scene during his Beaver Stadium debut with an electrifying 70-yard touchdown run against Ohio. Then at Auburn, Singleton opened the second half with a 53-yard run and followed it up with a 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Through three weeks, Singleton has more rushes of 40-plus yards than every FBS team except Air Force. His 11.1 yards per carry rank first nationally by a healthy margin. Singleton has asserted himself as a homerun hitter and one of the most explosive running backs in college football.
Sure, it’s a small sample size. But the coaches who faced Singleton would agree with Rose: “There’s more where that came from.”
“Seeing him first-hand, I knew he was going to go somewhere and do well for himself. ... I’m proud of him, and I’m happy for him,” the Mechanicsburg coach said. “When I interacted with him after we played them, he was nothing but a class act. So it’s really good to see someone like him succeed on that level right off the bat. He’s got a chance to be a really special player for Penn State.”
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