An All-America career at Lamar has come to an earlier end than expected.

Senior running back Kade Harrington has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a foot injury. Lamar did not announce specifics of the injury, but Harrington told KFDM-TV that he sustained a torn ligament in his foot.

The injury is expected to keep the 5-foot-9, 192-pound speedster from Kingwood out of football-related activities for three to four months, allowing him to return in time for Pro Day.

“Kade is a great football player, competitor and leader,” Woodard said in a news release Tuesday. “We will miss his fighting spirit in the huddle, but I know he will continue to be the great leader he has been over the past four seasons.”

Harrington left Saturday’s 32-31 comeback win over Northwestern State in the second quarter after gaining 42 yards on nine carries and catching a pass for 7 yards.

But his career was much grander.

Harrington finishes as the Cardinals’ all-time leading rusher with 4,348 yards. He broke the previous school record of 3,598 (by Burton Murchison, 1984-87) last season during a 2,092-yard campaign that earned him spots on five All-America teams, four of which he made the first team. Harrington also finished second in voting for the STATS FCS National Offensive Player of the Year award, the FCS equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.

He became the seventh player in all of Division I history to rush for 2,000 yards within 10 games last season and was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year. He leads the conference again in rushing with 636 yards and four touchdowns on 123 carries, averaging 106 yards per game. Corey Avery of Sam Houston State is second with 486 yards (97.2 per game).

Harrington also holds the Lamar records for all-purpose yards (5,228), scoring (306 points), rushing touchdowns (44) and career 100-yard rushing games (17). He broke the 100-yard mark eight consecutive times in 2015 and had three this season, beginning with a 207-yard, two-touchdown in a loss to Coastal Carolina. The other two have come during the Cards’ current three-game winning streak, 143 yards against Southeastern Louisiana and 145 against Abilene Christian.

Harrington was the Southland Freshman of the Year and College Sports Journal All-American in 2013, as he set the LU freshman rushing record with 880 yards.

Saturday’s game at Central Arkansas will mark the first time Harrington has not played since the 2014 season, when he missed three games due to injuries.

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews