It didn't take long for Dutchtown running back Dylan Sampson to leave his mark with the Griffins. 

During his freshman season in 2018, Sampson was asked to move from the freshman team to varsity to help create some depth after a group of injuries.

"I was nervous. It's a whole other game speed stepping up from freshman football to varsity," said Sampson.

Once he was called up, he became the starter before the end of the season.

"I got to practice. The coaches slowed everything down for me," said Sampson. "It was simple. I just did what they told me to and as time went on I just started to get more involved"

"We knew he was an athletic kid. He had all that speed, we didn't realize he has the vision that he does," said Dutchtown head coach Guy Mistretta.

Now a sophomore, the 5-foot-9, 170 pound speedster has become one of the better backs in the Capital Area. After multiple huge games, it was his performance last Friday that put him over the top this week to win the award.

Sampson finished the night with 139 yards and 3 touchdowns versus McKinley. What made it special is he did it all in the 1st quarter on only 5 carries

"His first two carries, he took to the house. Both of which over 50 yards," said Mistretta. "He's just so explosive. If you give him any hole at all, he is going to hit it."

"I'm not the biggest running back, but I got a lot of strength and along with that and the speed, it is hard to tackle me," said Sampson.

Sampson is also a hard worker off the football field. He has a GPA over 4.0 and is a 5-time US Track and Field All-American. Both those things help him while on the gridiron.

"He missed our bootcamp this year because he was competing in the junior Olympics," said Mistretta. "I believe he finished 1st in the 200 and 2nd in the 100. So that speed certainly comes over to the football field."

"My parents, they are always telling me 'College. You need that GPA,' said Sampson. "Me personally, I like being in the class room and learning new stuff. I don't want to just be the athlete. I want to be the student athlete."

Sampson and the Griffens will head to 'The Pit' this week for a matchup with St. Amant on Friday night at 7 pm.