Seneca Valley's Forrest Barnes races through Connellsville's defense on his way to 306 yards and seven touchdowns in a game played in 2012. Barnes won the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy that season with 152 points.

HOUSTON — It was the type of game almost every running back can only fantasize about.

For Forrest Barnes, it became a striking reality.

In a home game against Connellsville in September 2012, Seneca Valley's senior running back ran through, over and around the Falcons' defense for 306 yards and seven touchdowns — both school records that still stand.

The effort came on just 16 carries, giving Barnes an eye-popping 19.1 yards-per-carry average in a 64-14 win.

“That was the most memorable game of my entire life,” Barnes said. “I always felt I was ready for a game, and I was, but I was never more ready than I was that day.

“It was rhythmic. The offensive line did a great job and everything flowed correctly.”

It was an incredible game during a superb season for Barnes, who gained 1,676 yards rushing and scored 26 touchdowns while helping SV to the WPIAL semifinals. He is to date the only Seneca player to win the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy, doing so with 152 points.

Since then, no player has won the trophy with more points.

Barnes displayed a lot of potential as a sophomore, contributing over 800 yards from scrimmage and scoring 10 total touchdowns.

As a junior, he reached another level with 1,217 rushing yards and 19 scores. Most notably, he gashed Penn Hills for 209 scrimmage yards and scored three times in a first-round playoff victory in November 2011.

Barnes was primed for a special senior season, but he was far from the only threat defenses had to worry about.

Dual-threat quarterback Jordan Brown, receiver Jon Dorogy and tight end R.J. McCauley teamed with Barnes and forced opponents to defend every inch of the field.

“It was fun!,” Barnes exclaimed. “Defenses couldn't focus on just one guy. Coach (Don) Holl did a great job of keeping them honest because we spread the ball around.”

Barnes went on to play three seasons at Robert Morris University, but a number of injuries drastically cut into his playing time. He graduated with a degree in sports management.

He recently left the University of Houston, where he was an academic support/student-athlete development assistant. He is now employed by the University of Arkansas as student-athlete development coordinator.

His ties to Seneca Valley remain strong.

Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, Barnes was one of several former students from Seneca Valley who sought to make the environment at their alma mater more inclusive.

They started a petition that yielded 4,000 signatures.

“We wanted to have more employment opportunities for minorities,” Barnes said. “We spoke to members of the administration and teachers at Seneca. An elective course called 'Diverse Voices in American History' is hopefully going to be offered soon. Some of us also serve as mentors to African American students at Seneca Valley and everything is done on a volunteer basis.”

Barnes was able to keep up with the progress of this initiative while in Houston and plans to do the same from Fayetteville, Ark.

“I wanted to have more of an impact on my alma mater than just what I was able to do athletically,” Barnes said. “I feel more connected to Seneca Valley now than I did when I was actually there.”