INLAND FIELDHOUSE

Take a closer look at Phelan Serrano senior Sultaan Sullivan and you’ll see an aware young man.

It’s apparent that Sullivan knows the weight of carrying a team, now five games into his senior season, and feels the burden of every loss along the way.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound running back has rushed for more than 1,200 yards and scored 21 TDs already this season for the Diamondbacks (3-2 overall), the reigning Mojave River League champion.

Sullivan’s running stride is closer to a glide as he slips through holes and dances around defenders for lengthy gains against schemes designed to stop his very progress.

We caught up with him after Serrano’s 50-34 non-league loss to Norco on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015.

FOMB: What are you thinking after another loss to Norco?
Sullivan: “As a team we came out, we did good, we played our best football. We could’ve used a couple of stops on defense but it’s not that serious. It’s a non-league game. We gave it our best shot.

FOMB: Did you expect so many big plays tonight?
SS: “I knew they were going to come out with their best, and we were going to come out with our best regardless of what happened. I knew it was going to be an interesting game from the start, and we came out and we battled and we fought.”

FOMB: Would you say Norco is a more physical team?
SS: “No. Not at all. They rally to the ball really well but honestly, as a whole, there really wasn’t much different.”

FOMB: What do you think will be taken from this game?
SS: “When we’re down we just got to answer. We were excited. We were trying our best right there, and just a mistake here and a mistake there and you lose handle on it.”

Sullivan totaled 298 total yards (251 rushing) and four total TDs (three rushing), and he still he sees the minutia of difference in a game that was winnable until the fourth quarter.

That’s next-level awareness.