Friday night was special for McCormick’s A’Chean Durant.
The senior running back is one of the most talented players in the Lakelands, and he proves that every game, but that’s just a normal Friday night for him. What made Friday’s overtime win against Asheville Christian so special was who was in the crowd.
For the first time since he was a sophomore, Durant had his brother, Mataeo, in the crowd.
“That was amazing to get him back in town,” Durant said. “For him to see me go crazy during the game, that was amazing. Just to have him back on campus just to watch me play one more time for my senior year.”
And Durant did go crazy on the field, running for 215 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries (9.7 yards per carry) while adding an interception returned for a touchdown in the 49-41 win. He finished with two interceptions in the game.
Because of that performance, Durant was named the Index-Journal Player of the Week.
“It felt amazing to get the team win,” Durant said. “We have worked our butts off week in and week out. We’ve gone through adversity, losing to three big teams, but we came together. They leaned on me to make big plays. Big time players make big time plays in big time situations, and that was a big time game for us.”
Durant scored his first touchdown with a 95-yard interception returned for a touchdown. When he came back to the sideline, he looked at coach Paul Pratt and said “I see something in the running game, I think we can pound it.”
In the second half, it was the Durant show, as the senior scored all four of the Chiefs touchdowns. He said his favorite one was the game-winning touchdown in overtime, a 10-yard run that he followed up with a two-point conversion.
Overall, Durant has rushed for nearly 1,000 already this season, running for 912 yards on 93 carries.
“He is a leader,” Pratt said. “I’ve seen something in A’Chean since his freshman year. He’s really working hard to get his yardage up before the end of the season. ... As an offensive coordinator, he makes my job easy.”
Asheville Christian was the Chiefs final non-region team on their schedule until the playoffs, and since the Lions ran 56 offensive plays, all of which were passing plays, it helps the Chiefs prepare for a throwing attack they will see in their final three region games.
“It helped a lot. They threw the ball 100% of the time, and it showed our strength and weaknesses,” Durant said.
Contact sports writer Cody Estremera at 864-943-2530.
