Standard Democrat Football Player of the Year: Dremond Robinson

sports@standard-democrat.com

MALDEN -- Few players in southeast Missouri were more exciting to watch every time they touched the football this past season than Malden senior Dremond Robinson.

No matter where the Green Wave lined up on the field the 5-6, 180-pound running back was a threat to find the endzone, often making it look effortless in the process.

It's after a senior year where he guided Malden to historic success that Robinson has been named the Standard-Democrat Player of the Year.

"He's such a big part of our team," Malden head coach Joel Wyatt said of Robinson. "Everybody looks at him from an offensive standpoint, but he was just as important on the defensive side of the ball. He doesn't just perform when the lights are on.

"He's a great practice player and great in the weight room. Definitely the MVP of our team."

While most work-horse backs have the carries to back up their gaudy numbers, what makes Robinson's accomplishments so impressive is how few touches he needed to get there.

He racked up 1,725 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns on just 146 carries while averaging 11.8 yards-per-carry. He added another 230 yards receiving and two scores on eight catches to give him 36 touchdowns and 1,955 yards of total offense.

To put that in perspective, Robinson easily averaged over a first down every time he touched the ball. He averaged 11 touches and 139.6 yards-per-game while scoring a touchdown every 4.3 plays he got the ball.

"I did 10 times better than last year," Robinson said, referring to his junior campaign. "I had 27 touchdowns last year and had (36) this year. It was just working hard and listening to coach. I can run the ball, catch the ball. I mainly run the ball with power."

With his production and team-first attitude, Robinson was a big reason for Malden's unprecedented success this season.

Though their dreams of a Class 2 state title came to a close in the semifinals at the hands of eventual champions, Lamar, the 2014 Green Wave set a bar future Malden teams will be heard pressed to match.

Take away their season-ending loss to the Tigers and Malden never played a team that could stay within 27 points of them, scoring over 70-points three times.

They reeled off 13-straight wins heading into the semifinals and rarely was a game in doubt after halftime. The turbo-clock coming into effect on the second half kickoff was a common occurrence at Green Wave games all this season.

Even when he wasn't handling the ball, Wyatt gave Robinson credit for drawing the focus of opponents on every play.

"He's going to draw attention," Wyatt said. "I think that opened up our play-action pass game. Our big pass plays were off the iso, fake to Dremond and hitting Parker or Jeremy over the top. He definitely was had a hand in those balls being completed. Not only that, he has good hands and is a great pass protector. He's not just a one-dimensional player. He's a three-dimensional kind of back."

The fact that his team often won so handily makes Robinson's numbers that much more impressive as they were often put up in just two quarters of play.

With his team frequently up well past the turbo-clock mark by halftime, Robinson and his fellow starters often played just a few series in the third quarter before handing the reigns to their junior varsity unit.

As dominant as Robinson was on offense, he showed his ability as a two-way player by playing outside linebacker at a high level. His 89 tackles were second best on the team with 25 of those coming for a loss.

Robinson also racked up six sacks on the season and forced six fumbles.

After his career year, the honors naturally started coming Robinson's way, most notably being named first team, all-state selections on both the coaches and media Class 2 teams as a running back.

Robinson was first team all-region as a running back as well and second team all-region as a linebacker. He earned first team selections as both a running back and a linebacker in the SEMO Conference South as well as being named the division's top point producer.

While already one of the better backs in the area as a junior, Wyatt credits Robinson with putting time in the weight and at practice with taking it another level this season.

"He put on about 15 pounds and it was 15 pounds of muscle," Wyatt said. "He was already hard to handle just because of his strength and his low center of gravity. But when you throw 15 more pounds on top of that, and then he got a little bit faster as well, you could definitely see the difference on the field. Just breaking that extra tackle or dragging a guy a couple more yards."

If there's one regret, Robinson said, it's not getting to finish their season with a state title.

After running through the opposition at a near record pace, it was the now four-time defending champion Lamar Tigers who found a way to slow the Green Wave attack.

Malden held close in the first half before the Tigers pulled away to secure a 28-2 win that propelled them back to the title game and ended the Green Wave's season.

"My senior year went pretty well for me, but I think we should have kept going and beat Lamar," Robinson said. "We played half games where the jayvee got in and that probably is what killed us. We didn't play full games this year, but it was a good season."