A Captain. A Senior. And now a Woodland Record Holder.
It was a great night for the Hawks on Friday, October 2. After defeating Watertown forty to seven in the pouring rain, it was announced Sean McAllen had broken Jack DeBiase’s record of Most Rushing Yards in a Career of 3640.
According to maxpreps.com, McAllen’s current record is 3904, however with four games left in the season, he will continue to accumulate rushing yards.
McAllen has rushed for 912 yards this year alone. He explains the success he’s found was a collaborative effort.
“I know it’s a team sport,” said McAllen. “It’s not just me; it takes the other ten people on the team to win a game.”
He acknowledges that, without the offensive line giving him the ball, he would not have been put in a position for success. Several members of the team have provided enormous advances for the team and were large attributers to the Hawk’s prosperity. Coby Vaccarelli, senior, has 105 career tackles, Guy Massimo, senior, accumulated 144 rushing yards and ten catches, and Dave Bobbie has 723 total rushing yards and 135 carries.
Without each of the eleven players on the field relying on each other, and functioning as one unit, the Hawks would never have found success against teams such as Holy Cross, Watertown, and Oxford. McAllen also believes working with other athletes on such a close level allows them to form relationships off of the field as well.
McAllen expresses his goal as a Hawk is to accumulate over 4,000 rushing yards in his four year career; this goal is not far from his reach. Currently, McAllen holds 3,904 yards and averaging 134 yards a game, his goal will most likely be reached against Sacred Heart, October 24.
But this success was never handed to McAllen. He has been devoted to football, working tirelessly since the fifth grade to achieve what he has. He explains that he began the sport when he was ten, and immediately loved the physicality of it. He trains all year-round, lifting weights on the winter off-season and running Track in the Spring to stay in shape. McAllen knows that you must practice to be successful.
He shares that although leaving a legacy would be an honor, his priority is to win games.
“I don’t care about beating any records,” said McAllen. “I just want to be remembered as the person that worked the hardest.”
McAllen will continue beating his own records throughout this season, working his hardest to be remembered long after his time as both an incredible athlete and truly the kid that worked the hardest.
