After his 97-rushing yards against Mt. Vernon in game one of the football Sectional 32 on October 20, senior Sean DeLong became Gibson Southern High School’s all-purpose yards record holder with 3,805. He passed 2018 graduate Dylan Stefanich’s 3,755 yards. DeLong’s total will continue to grow as the Titans play through the post season.
To DeLong, football means more than anything. At a young age, he found love in the sport and was always playing with his brothers in the backyard. Playing football was pretty much a family tradition, and DeLong would carry that on.
“It was just a family thing,” he said. “All my brothers played, my dad played and it is just something I bond over with my family in every way.”
Growing up, DeLong was never the biggest kid, but that was something out of his control. His stature did not bother him; instead, he focused on what he could manage. Being pushed by his brothers at all times, he continued to get better and better. Not being the biggest or the fastest, he worked harder than everyone else.
“Obviously, I am not the fastest, biggest or the strongest,“ DeLong said. “But, what you can control is your effort, even watching film and always knowing what to do, putting yourself a step ahead. You can always put yourself ahead of someone else with effort.”
DeLong always had the will to win, and to him, the stats did not matter. He wanted to do whatever he could to help his team win. With that mentality, DeLong was an integral component of the 2021 state championship team.
Throughout his football career and this season, DeLong was not thinking about breaking the all-purpose yards record. It was something that came with being a winner. He was never focused on records but instead being a team player.
“It is something that you don’t really think of,“ DeLong said. “The record itself is cool, but it means I have gotten to play a lot of football for Gibson Southern and be able to earn us more wins.”
At the conclusion of the 2023 football season, DeLong’s school record for all-purpose yards stands at 4,207.
