In any sport, especially high school sports, you never want to see an injury. It’s really a shame, though, that St. Aloysius running back DeMichael Harris had to sprain his ankle in August.

Can you imagine what kind of stats he’d have right now if he hadn’t?

Harris missed a month of the season and in the five games he’s played since returning has ripped through opposing defenses like a loaded 18-wheeler running a barricade made of gauze.

Harris had four 200-yard games, one 300-yard game, a total of 1,248 yards and 21 touchdowns in October, capped off by his 395-yard, six-touchdown performance in last Friday’s first-round playoff game against Bayou Academy.

It’s not just a great season, it’s historic:

• Harris had the first 300-yard rushing game by a Warren County player since 2004, and just the ninth ever. He’s the fourth player to run for six TDs in a game, and the second to have both a five- and six-touchdown game on his resumé.

• His yardage total against Bayou broke a school record set in 1934 and is also a Warren County record.

• He’s become the 10th Warren County player to total 3,000 rushing yards in a career, and broke St. Al’s school record for rushing touchdowns.

The most amazing part of all this isn’t that Harris is doing it. He’s a phenomenal athlete who would be a star on any team in the state. It’s that he’s done it in basically a season and a half.

Harris played receiver his freshman and sophomore seasons, when St. Al was loaded at running back. He only had 21 carries combined in 2012 and 2013, then moved to the backfield at the start of his junior season.

Since then he’s played 21 games — he missed one with injury in 2014 and all or most of five this year — and run for 200 or more yards in half of them. He’s scored multiple TDs 14 times. He’s averaging 15.5 yards per carry.

By comparison, most of the players on the all-time yardage and touchdown list put up their numbers over the course of three or even four seasons.

By any measure, Harris is one of the best backs ever to play in Warren County. Whatever he ends up doing at the next level, it’s been a privilege to watch him play. Greatness like this doesn’t come along often.

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Ernest Bowker is a sports writer. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com