Friday was simply one other day on the workplace for Darnell Miller.
Santee’s senior working again arrived on time, rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns, and clocked out early because the Falcons soared previous Hawkins 35-6 to win the Metropolis Part Division III championship at Birmingham Excessive.
Watching from the sideline, as he does nearly each sport, was Darnell’s 10-year-old brother, Frederick, a fifth-grader at Twenty-Eighth Road Elementary who Darnell picks up from faculty and brings to follow each day.
“What I love most about this sport is all the friends I’ve made. … I’m a shy person, but it’s made me more vocal, taught me discipline and to take care of my responsibilities,” mentioned Miller, who likes soccer finest regardless of additionally enjoying guard on the basketball group within the winter and working for the observe group within the spring. “I just do what I do. This is my last year, so I want to finish strong.”
Darnell Miller and his 10-year-old brother, Frederick, pose with the Metropolis championship trophy and plaque after Santee’s victory in Division III.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Occasions)
Miller started the day averaging 15.1 yards per carry, having rushed for 3,103 yards and 37 touchdowns, and wasted no time including to these totals in opposition to the second-seeded Hawks (10-3). He ended Santee’s first drive with an 11-yard landing run, added a five-yarder within the second quarter and a nine-yarder within the third quarter to make it 35-0. Quarterback Daynian Alvarado scored the Falcons’ different two touchdowns on runs of 1 and 13 yards.
“Darnell is a very hard working, humble young man and everything you want a captain to be,” mentioned Santee coach John Petty, who guided the Falcons to their solely different Metropolis title in 2018. “He’s the first person in the locker room and the last to leave.”
The win wrapped up a dominant run for the No. 1-seeded Falcons (10-4), who defeated their 4 playoff opponents by a mean margin of 29 factors.
The Hawks averted the shutout halfway by means of the fourth quarter when Justin Cortez capped a 10-play, 55-yard drive with a five-yard scoring run.
His job completed, Miller acquired to take a seat out all the fourth quarter after upping his landing rely to 43 touchdowns this season (40 speeding, one receiving and two on kickoff returns). Regardless of spectacular stats, Miller has acquired just one scholarship supply — from Pikeville, an NAIA program in Kentucky.
“My goal is to keep playing, wherever that is,” Miller mentioned.
