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WASHINGTON, N.C. – There are many ways to describe what kind of football player Keondrick Melton is.

The senior is a bull in a china shop with the way he plows through defenders and knocks them aside while grinding out yards. He’s likely to remind you in some ways of NFL Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis with a bowling ball mentality to break through defenders.

At 5-foot-11 and 201 pounds, he has a frame that’s low to the ground and hard to bring down. He can bang out four yards to get a first down. When he breaks free, he can run away from the competition on his way to a touchdown. He scored on runs of 69 and 56 yards against West Craven last week and 60-plus yards in both of his touchdowns against Pamlico County.

His play, along with an improving effort by his teammates each week, has allowed the Pam Pack to win two straight after a 0-3 start going into Friday’s game with Farmville Central.

With several more games left in the season, it’ll be interesting to see what Melton can do next.

“I’m more of a powerful running back,” said Melton, who has rushed for 673 yards this season before Friday’s game.”If I’ve got to run over you, I’ll definitely do that. If I’ve got to step on you, I’ll definitely do that.

“It’s more fun like that. Because when I was younger, I really couldn’t. I was small back then. So I’m glad I gained weight. I’m able to do things now.”

Melton was called up to the varsity team as a sophomore and bided his time while other upperclassmen made their contributions to the team. So when it was his time to be a leader, he said he was ready for the challenge.

“The Pamlico game, we feel like we needed to set an example,” Melton said. “So we definitely did that. And then West Craven, that was our first conference game.

“So I feel like we really had to come in and make stuff clear. And it did.”

Quarterback Evan Makepeace took over the duties of directing the offense this season on a full-time basis. He said while he’s still got some learning to do, having someone like Melton in the backfield helps everybody play better on offense.

“He’s a guy I can trust 100%,” Makepeace said. “Like, I mean, I never doubt that he’s going to go out there and give it all. He runs the ball hard. He keeps everybody up, and he’s never negative with anybody.

“He picks me up with my mistakes, and I pick him up with his. And I feel like we’ve gotten pretty close over halfway through the season. And I think we have, he has everything it takes to be really, really good in our conference.”

Pam Pack assistant coach Stephen Allard works with Melton on defense and watches with amazement what he can do on offense.

“He’s almost like a tank,” Allard said. “He’s kind of built for the trenches. He runs the ball really hard. He works hard in the weight room. He’s all about it, he’s all about sacrificing his body for the better of the team.

“The biggest thing for me is his work ethic. He wants to pick people up. He wants to run over people. He wants to destroy blocks and get off.”

Melton also does the shot put and runs track, another fact about him you might not believe until you see him take off and break away in the 100 meters. When he scored the Pam Pack’s touchdown during a driving rainstorm against Kinston a few weeks ago, he finessed and pushed his way into the end zone then quickly took off, diving head first in the end zone in celebration as Washington tied the game.

Melton, who will also participate on the wrestling team when football is complete,  is hoping there’s more to come now.

“As a team, though, I would like to make the playoffs for sure,” Melton said. “Make a deep run in the playoffs. And as a person, I would like to finish with 1,000 yards and maybe a wrestling championship.”