Class 1A All-State RBs: Durant’s DeLong Comes Up Big

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='104114' first='Nolan' last='DeLong'] was unstoppable all season long for Durant.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DeLong ran for a Class 1A-leading 2,111 yards, leading his team to five wins and the playoffs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He was one of 14 players in the class to rush for over 1,000 yards, with five of those also scoring over 20 touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are the all-state running backs from Class 1A:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team - [player_tooltip player_id='104114' first='Nolan' last='DeLong'] - Durant - Senior</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While Durant didn't win as many games as some of the others up for this honor, it is hard to ignore what [player_tooltip player_id='104114' first='Nolan' last='DeLong'] did. As mentioned, his 2,111 yards led the way, as did his 250 carries. That is an extremely large workload for a high school player. Factor in the 21 touchdowns and 8.4 yards per carry, and it was obvious he was excellent.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DeLong added four catches for 49 yards and had 66 tackles on defense with 14 for loss and three sacks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Second Team - [player_tooltip player_id='320866' first='Ben' last='Gordon'] - Van Meter - Junior</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Replacing legends can be difficult, and that is what many of the key starters at Van Meter had to do this past fall. [player_tooltip player_id='320866' first='Ben' last='Gordon'] was one of them, as the junior stepped into the lead back role and flourished, rushing for 1,734 yards with 28 touchdowns. He averaged over eight yards per carry.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gordon and the state champion Bulldogs were untouchable all year. He also hauled in 10 balls for 146 yards with three touchdowns while averaging 22 yards per kickoff return.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Third Team - [player_tooltip player_id='104109' first='Andy' last='Henson'] - West Branch - Senior</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On 218 carries this past fall, [player_tooltip player_id='104109' first='Andy' last='Henson'] found the end zone 30 times. That is an eye-popping number for a high school athlete. Henson was dominant as a runner, racking up 1,484 yards total at almost seven yards per pop.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bears reached the state semifinals behind Henson, who also completed a touchdown pass and caught 15 balls for 159 yards with a score. On defense he recorded 62.5 tackles with nine for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Honorable Mention</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The list here is long and full of talented players such as [player_tooltip player_id='104112' first='Anthony' last='Isley'] of Mediapolis, [player_tooltip player_id='152688' first='Ethan' last='Schoville'] of Denver, [player_tooltip player_id='246737' first='Carter' last='Bultman'] from West Sioux, Cole Clarahan of Sigorney-Keota and [player_tooltip player_id='156641' first='Wyatt' last='Powell'] out of MFL MarMac just to name a few. All went over 1,000 yards with Powell averaging almost 11 yards per carry. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->