He Never Got Sick of Scoring : Prep football: Running back Jonas Lewis’ 10-touchdown game leaves Beaumont High feeling great.

Jonas Lewis was not expecting to make high school football history when he stepped onto the field for Beaumont High against Hemet West Valley High.

After all, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior running back had been suffering from an upset stomach the entire week leading up to the Oct. 21 Skyline League game.

But there was little doubt who was hurting more after Lewis scored 10 touchdowns despite repeatedly going to the sideline to get sick during Beaumont’s 69-24 victory.

Lewis gained 302 yards in 13 carries and scored eight touchdowns rushing, one on a 42-yard reception and another on a 38-yard interception return.

He left at the end of the third quarter because game officials and West Valley Coach Tom Wallace asked Beaumont’s Gary Harvey to keep him out.

As a result, Lewis left the game one touchdown shy of the state’s 65-year-old single-game record, but it was a remarkable performance nonetheless.

Frank Greene of Coronado set the state record of 11 touchdowns in 1929, and the only challenge to that mark until Lewis’ came in 1952 when Joe Silva of Gustine scored nine times in a 74-0 victory over LeGrand.

Few thought Lewis would have much of a game when he left early on to get sick on the sideline.

“Two plays later Jonas taps me on the shoulder and tells me he’s ready to go back in,” Harvey said.

On his first carry, Lewis ran 31 yards to score.

Then he returned to the bench showing signs of the upset stomach. Harvey thought Lewis was through.

“Next thing I knew, he was tapping me on the shoulder again, telling me he was ready,” Harvey said.

The coach sent Lewis in . . . and Lewis scored again.

“There was nothing I could do, it just kept coming out,” Lewis said of his vomiting. “I felt like I had to throw up on the field. I knew the only way I could get back to the bench and throw up was to score. I can’t think of a better incentive to score a touchdown.”

Despite his condition, he never considered sitting out.

“The game was close at the time,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t let the guys down. I knew they needed me. I didn’t want my teammates to lose respect for me. If a game is important, I won’t come out unless I can’t walk.”

Lewis also received motivation from his mother, Jolyn Winters.

When she heard her son was suffering, she went to the field and told him to keep playing.

“I chewed him out for not telling me he was sick earlier in the week,” said Winters, a high school referee for girls’ basketball, softball and volleyball. “I told him he’d already come this far, he might as well complete the process.”

Winters’ actions were not surprising. She coached Lewis’ Pop Warner team when he was 8.

“She’s done everything for me,” Lewis said. “She’s my inspiration, my backbone. She’s taught me a lot about the game of football.”

Lewis is Riverside County’s leading rusher with 1,834 yards and 27 touchdowns. He is averaging 12 yards per carry. He followed his 10-touchdown performance by rushing for 250 yards and scoring four times in a 39-7 victory over Banning two weeks ago. Last Friday, he rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns in a 26-17 victory over Riverside Notre Dame.

Beaumont is enjoying one of its better seasons. The Cougars are 6-3, 4-0 in the Skyline League, and have secured a berth in next week’s Southern Section Division IX playoffs.

Harvey has spent a lot of time with Lewis, who transferred from nearby Moreno Valley High two years ago.

“He’s been a great substitute father for me,” Lewis said. “I can talk to him about anything.”

Lately, the talk revolves round college scholarships. Nebraska, UCLA and California have expressed interest.

“I plan on playing Division I football,” Lewis said. “I feel I’m good enough to play at that level.”

So does Harvey.

“Jonas is a running back with power, but he possesses the ability to go in any direction,” the coach said. “You never know which way he is going to go.”

No matter which way he goes, he often ends up in the end zone.