BY CHRISTOPHER CASSIDY
Justin Felder went from being a small high school running back to scoring a record-breaking college career at Stonehill.
A five-foot, eight-inch running back from New York entered a division II college football program at Stonehill College in 2018 shadowing Brian Kearns Jr., named one of the most athletic backs in recent Stonehill history.
Now, he may be extending his college playing days at another school, home to even more talented football players.
In his freshman year, Felder learned how to compete against great talent in the division and get a feel for the pace at the college level.
“The difference in the college game compared to high school is you have to have a different mindset,” Felder said. “Everyone here used to be ‘that guy’ in high school and now we’re all on a level playing field.”
He impressed coaches and teammates in his rookie campaign, where he rushed for 429 yards and tallied two touchdowns to boot.
His counterpart, Kearns Jr., rushed for 961 yards with 12 touchdowns of his own.
The Skyhawks concluded Felder’s freshman season with a rough 2-8 record, only earning wins against Saint Anselm College and Assumption University.
Felder came back stronger than ever after the 2019 season where Kearns Jr. unfortunately tore his ACL early in the second game of the season against The University of New Haven. This allowed Felder to step up as a leader and take the reins as the primary running back for the Stonehill offense.
“I had the next man up mentality that season. I am not a real vocal person, so I try to lead through my play. I ended up doing that,” he said. “I would put my body on the line no matter what the circumstances were for my brothers.”
He ran for 1,513 yards on 236 carries and put up 16 touchdowns, which led all running backs in the NE10.
The Stonehill Offense in 2019 was centered around a “run heavy” mindset, with leadership in the passing game from senior wide receiver Andrew Jamiel.
There was a lot of promise for Stonehill Football entering the 2020 season after finishing 6-4 in 2019 and placing second in the NE10.
Due to the pandemic, the 2020 season was lost, and Felder was forced to wait over 665 days before strapping the pads back on for the first game of the 2021 season. The game was on September 4, 2021, against Bloomsburg.
Felder did not miss a beat and ran for 177 yards on 31 carries and scored three touchdowns, contributing to the team’s win.
The rest of the season consisted of more dominant rushing performances from the now-senior running back, who led Stonehill to an 8-2 record.
He rushed for 1,127 yards on 215 carries and notched 17 touchdowns during the season in eight of the ten games.
Sophomore running back Jermaine Corbett, and fifth year senior Brian Kearns Jr., stepped in to fill the void of their teammate Felder, when he was injured for two weeks this season.
Felder’s career at Stonehill consisted of breaking multiple records, which included him being the “All-time leading rusher,” “all-time total touchdowns scored,” “most rushing touchdowns in a single game,” “most touchdowns in a single season,” “most rushing yards in a single season,” “most yards per carry in a single game,” “most points scored in a single season,” “most yards per carry in a single season,” “most carries in a single season,” “most all-purpose yards in a single season,” and finally, “most rushing yards per game in a single season.”
“It was amazing; I set a goal when I chose Stonehill to break every rushing record possible,” Felder said, “Finally, being able to accomplish that in 13 less games than they were set is amazing; a feeling of relief that I had lived up to my word.”
He finished with 3,069 rushing yards in 27 games played and scored 35 rushing touchdowns over his career. He also had 27 receptions for 47 yards with three scores.
Felder has entered the transfer portal with one more year left of football eligibility and is getting recruited by division I and II football programs.
“The future is extremely exciting,” he said. “I am garnering a lot of attention and will choose a school to use my final year of eligibility. After next year, I will be declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft and try to play football at the professional level.”
Felder is motivated that his abilities will take him a long way in his future football career.