Sean Christofferson hated being a part of Wilmington High’s dirty dozen.
You know, the 12 freshmen left behind in the dust as the rest of the Greyhounds football team travels to away games.
It’s something he’s never forgotten. In fact, he brought it up to coach Terry Verrelli during the 2009 season.
Verrelli’s response? “That just shows how far you’ve come.”
Yesterday, The Associated Press put an exclamation point on Christofferson’s rags-to-riches career, naming him to its Class AA all-state high school football first team.
Teammate Derrick Burns also was selected to the first team. Christofferson was one of five offensive linemen, while Burns made the defensive team as one of four linebackers.
No other Lawrence County school was represented in any class.
“It feels pretty good,” Christofferson said. “All my hard work has paid off.”
Burns, on the other hand, is no stranger to postseason accolades.
This is the second-straight year the University of Pittsburgh recruit has been honored by The AP. Burns was named to the second-team defense last season.
Derrick’s brother, Chris, a running back at Pitt, also was named to the AP all-state team twice.
“Sweet,” Derrick Burns said upon hearing the news. “I definitely worked harder on defense this season.”
Christofferson, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound right tackle, anchored a senior-laden offensive line that helped produce two 1,000-yard rushers for only the second time during Verrelli’s 31 years at Wilmington.
“Sean is an example of getting rewarded for working tremendously hard,” Verrelli said. “I’m very proud of what he’s accomplished.”
The 5-11, 205-pound Burns finished with a team-leading 96 tackles (43 solo), according to Maxpreps.com. He also collected 1,030 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on offense.
Wilmington junior Sutton Whiting led the county with 1,273 yards.
“Derrick was a strong force for us for several years,” Verrelli said. “He’s a big kid. He has speed and a lot of athletic ability for his size. When you put all those things together, you’ve got quite an athlete.”
Both players recorded perhaps the two most critical plays of the season during Wilmington’s march through the District 10 playoffs.
Burns’ 79-yard run against North East in the semifinals propelled the ’Hounds to a 45-21 win.
Christofferson may have came up even bigger during the district title game against Sharon. His block on a fourth-quarter punt sealed Wilmington’s fourth-straight district crown.
“It was a great year,” said Christofferson, who has yet to decide on a college. “Our biggest fear starting the season was that we weren’t going to make it as far as previous years. We were kind of nervous we weren’t going to be as good as expected.”
Greensburg Central Catholic dashed the ’Hounds’ hopes of claiming a second straight PIAA title in the state semifinals at Slippery Rock University.
Wilmington’s senior class finished with a 55-6 record.
“We had a good run,” Burns said. “Things happen for a reason. It was a good ride, all four years.”
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