Fred Halley, head football coach at Raleigh-Egypt High, cooked up some classic Memphis barbecue and invited his assistants over to watch the Navy football game on CBS College Sports Television.

Halley and staff watched in amazement as Raleigh-Egypt graduate Shun White set a single-game, school record by rushing for 348 yards in Navy's 41-13 rout of Towson. They were hooting and hollering as White took option pitchouts and galloped up and down the field all day - busting touchdown runs of 33, 73 and 87 yards.

"It was a fantastic day. I knew Shun was due for a breakout performance, but I never imagined he would do something like that. It was incredible to see," Halley said. "We're so proud of Shun it is unreal. He is one of the most upstanding young men you will ever meet."

However, Halley knew White was capable of such an effort. After all, he had done it before. Back in 2002, White ran wild against city rival Frayser High, setting a school record with 320 yards and four touchdowns.

Raleigh-Egypt employs the same triple-option offense as Navy and White was the fullback as a senior. Halley nicknamed that prolific three-man backfield Earth, Wind and Fire after the renowned R&B group of the same name. White was Earth since he was the strongest, hardest runner, Halley said.

"Now Shun has become the Fire. He's the slot back bringing the speed on the outside," said Halley, who retired White's No. 28 jersey during a halftime ceremony last season.

Mississippi and South Carolina of the Southeastern Conference along with Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference were impressed with White's raw athleticism and offered scholarships. However, those Bowl Championship Series conference schools wanted White to play cornerback.

"Shun didn't see himself as a corner. He'd been a running back since Pee Wee League and that's what he knew," Halley said. "Shun is a strong-minded individual and he stuck with his convictions. He was determined to play running back at the next level."

Enter Navy, which wasn't afraid to take a chance on a 5-foot-9 youngster with blazing speed. Assistant coach Keith Jones sat in the White living room and told Shun he would play slot back in the Mids' triple-option offense.

"When Coach Jones came to my home, he said 'We'll give you a chance to run the ball.' I just wanted that chance. None of the big schools wanted to give me a chance to run the ball," White said.

White showed head coach Paul Johnson and staff early on that he was dynamic with the ball in his hands. However, he wasn't nearly good enough in the other elements of the game, such as blocking and receiving, to play slot back for Navy.

"In high school, I didn't have to really block as a running back. When I first got here, I wasn't the best blocker," White admitted.

Fortunately, White had a pair of veterans to emulate in Reggie Campbell and Zerbin Singleton. He learned a lot about what it takes to be a complete slot back while backing up those two as a sophomore and junior.

"Reggie and Zerb taught me a lot about how to get through practice, about toughness, tenacity and perseverance," White said. "Most importantly, they taught me mental toughness, how to be a leader and not a follower. I look up to both of them a lot. They are great mentors to me."

White is fortunate that Campbell and Singleton are still around for his senior season as both are on Temporary Assignment Duty at the Naval Academy. Singleton is serving as a graduate assistant with the football program while Campbell is working in the admissions department.

Both Campbell and Singleton were on the sidelines on Saturday to see White's record-setting performance. In fact, Singleton helped make it possible by giving first-year starting slot back Cory Finnerty an on-the-spot lesson about how to properly execute a cut block on a safety.

"I was very excited for Shun because I know how hard he worked during the off-season. He has gotten bigger, stronger and faster since last year," Singleton said. "Shun has a ton of natural talent and has always been a dangerous runner. He's gotten better each year, and now - this being his senior season - he's stepped up to another level."

Campbell possessed similar speed as White, but also knew how to use quickness, change of direction and shifty moves to break long runs.

"Reggie is a great runner who could make guys miss. I wanted to try to be as elusive as him," said White, who worked on the aforementioned skills during the off-season. "This past Saturday I made a couple guys miss, like the safety in the alley. I was real excited about that."

Singleton may be the most effective blocker to play slot back in the triple-option era at Navy. He was relentless and reckless, often crawling 10 yards on his knees to completely take a defensive back out of the play.

"Zerb is a devastating blocker. He taught me a lot about the techniques it takes to be a good blocker," said White, noting that the triple-option requires slot backs to lead each other into the hole on the outside. "It's a selfless position and I don't mind blocking for my teammates."

Two days after the fact, Navy's coaches were still marveling over the remarkable rushing total of White. Head coach Ken Niumatalolo called White "a special player" while slot backs coach Joe DuPaix said the senior enjoyed "an absolutely amazing day."

"I don't know if a player at that position has ever rushed for that many yards in this offense," DuPaix said. "The fact the reads worked out so that Shun had the ball so often was really a rare sight, and I don't know if we'll see that kind of performance by a slot any time in the near future. It was just a phenomenal feat."

DuPaix pointed out that White's 348 yards rushing were the result of quarterback Jarod Bryant making the right reads and pitching the ball at just the right time along with superb blocking on the perimeter by the wide receivers and other slot backs.

"Everybody executed their assignment and Shun did the rest," DuPaix said. "Shun definitely has the speed to take full advantage of whatever openings are there. He has the ability to take it to the house on any carry."

White has toting the football in his blood. His father, George White, was a legendary running back at Manassas High in Tennessee and earned a scholarship to Colorado State. George was no doubt beaming with pride while watching the Navy-Towson game at home with about 50 family members, including another son (Terrico White) who has signed to play basketball at Mississippi.

Shun White was all over the ESPN highlights on Saturday night and was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation Offensive Player of the Week on Sunday.

"It's pretty neat to get that national exposure, but it's in the past now. I just have to move on to the next game," he said.