It was only one minute after Mike Vernillo was introduced to Rushel Shell when, right in the middle of the football field at Hopewell High School -- Tony Dorsett Stadium -- Vernillo popped the question.
"Hey, you wanna race?" Vernillo said.
The two laughed as they prepared for a newspaper photo shoot, Vernillo in his old high school jersey and Shell in his complete uniform. But a Vernillo-Shell race is no joke. Someone said "ready, set, go" three years ago to Shell and he has been chasing Vernillo and the WPIAL all-time career rushing record ever since.
When Vernillo looks over his shoulder, he sees a Hopewell senior heading down the stretch run of his career within arm's reach of his record. Shell already is ranked as one of the top high school running backs in the country and is probably the most heavily recruited running back in the WPIAL since Tony Dorsett in the early 1970s. Now Shell is motoring toward the finish line and becoming the most prolific runner in WPIAL history.
"I was serious about racing him," Vernillo said with a laugh.
Vernillo is 29 and Shell 18.
"I still think I would've won," said Vernillo, a former star halfback whose senior season at Fort Cherry was 1999.
Barring injury, Shell will likely win this race for the 12-year-old record. Vernillo had 7,646 yards in his four-year career. Shell has 6,766, needing only 880 yards to reach Vernillo. Heck, Shell had 881 yards by the end of the fourth game last season.
Shell also has a chance at the state record, needing 2,261 yards to reach the record of 9,027, set from 2005-08 by Jeremiah Young of Steelton-Highspire near Harrisburg.
"After meeting [Shell] and talking to him, seeing his body language and his demeanor, there couldn't have been a better person to do something like this," said Vernillo, who lives in Bridgeville. "He's very humble and very mature for his age. If he breaks the record, he will get nothing but applause from me."
Really, Shell is involved in one big chase scene. Colleges across the country are chasing him, and now he chases Vernillo. Shell seemed genuinely pleased to meet Vernillo, who joked with Shell during the photo shoot. "Man, you're a lot bigger than I thought," were Vernillo's first words to Shell.
Vernillo even did some pushups in front of Shell, just to show him he was still in good shape. Shell got a good laugh.
Shell is now 6 feet, 210 pounds and looks in great shape. Besides spending a week in the Outer Banks (N.C.) vacationing with the family of his girlfriend, Marissa Pursley, Shell spent much of the summer working for R.J. Mitten and Sons.
"We built houses and customized houses," Shell said. "I even worked on Sidney Crosby's house."
Vernillo is 5-10 and played his senior season at 190. After the recent photo shoot with Shell, Vernillo took Shell to his car and showed him his father's Fort Cherry jersey and also a photo from the 1999 game when he broke the WPIAL rushing record of Penn-Trafford's Matt Gavrish. The photo was Vernillo embracing Fort Cherry coach Jim Garry, who is now deceased.
"I just wanted him to see what I was like in high school," Vernillo said. "But this is not about me anymore, this is all about [Shell]."
Vernillo signed with West Virginia University as a senior, but didn't last long at WVU before leaving and transferring to Slippery Rock. Playing at Fort Cherry, a Class A school, Vernillo didn't have the national reputation that Shell has. Shell, who is ranked among the top three halfbacks in the country by some scouting services, was humble when talking about Vernillo and the record.
"It would be a nice honor to be the all-time leading rusher, but like I've said a lot of times before, it doesn't matter to me that much," Shell said. "Someone can come along and break that record again. But if I win a championship, no one can ever take that away from me."
Vernillo talked to Shell about making a college choice.
"Just make sure it's what you want to do and you go where you can benefit," Vernillo said.
Where Shell will play in college is a subject that hounds him these days. He had scholarship offers from schools across the country, but said a week ago, "It's probably down to three or four. Pitt, Alabama, Florida and Virginia Tech."
Then a day later, Shell said Oregon was in the mix.
"I can't always say the same thing. I have to keep you reporters guessing," he said, laughing.
Shell actually said he already has made a college decision but won't reveal it until probably October. He might reveal it Oct. 14, when Hopewell plays Central Valley on ESPN2, but that idea isn't set in stone.
In a recent newspaper story, Shell said he will go to a college that is average now, but is on the rise. You look at his finalists, and that statement seems to be great news for Pitt. But Shell backtracked from that statement faster than he ran for 32 touchdowns last season.
"Just because I said that doesn't mean I'm going to Pitt," said Shell. "I want to let people know that. I don't know what I was saying that day. I was just talking, just to talk."
But Shell very well could go from the blue and gold of Hopewell to the blue and gold of Pitt, just like Dorsett did in 1973. It would please Vernillo, who is a Pitt season-ticket holder.
"With the new coaching staff Pitt has, this is probably one of the biggest shots they have of keeping one of the biggest recruits at home," Vernillo said. "There will be the Tony Dorsett comparison, but that's only natural, right?"
Natural might be the best way to describe Shell, who is well-built, has excellent speed and cutting ability, and great balance. When Shell showed off a new tatoo on his chest that reads "Fear None But God," it was hard to believe the kid has rarely lifted weights in his life. He and his good friend, quarterback Nolan Harmotto, lifted together for two weeks this summer.
"Then I just stopped," Shell said. "To be honest with you, I just don't like lifting that much. I know I'll have to in the future, but right now I don't feel like I need to. I just do pushups, situps -- and run sprints, too."
Maybe all the way to a WPIAL record.
First Published: August 26, 2011, 8:00 a.m.