Doltyn Longtin, who can see Grant’s stadium from his house, shines under those lights: ‘It’s definitely cool’

For Doltyn Longtin, being the featured running back for Grant has been a long time coming but has always been in sight.

Longtin, whose older sister Destinee was a cheerleader and older brother Daymian played football, lives only a Hail Mary throw from school property.

“I can see the home bleachers and the lights from my house,” Longtin said. “There have always been a bunch of relatives at all of these games.”

Longtin even played games there when he was younger.

“We used to play one game per year in the stadium with the feeder program, and it was amazing,” he said. “I remember thinking that once I get to play there on Friday nights, it’ll be packed, and I’ll be even more excited.

“So it’s definitely cool going through this after watching a ton of games there growing up. It feels good getting my turn.”

Longtin is making the most of his opportunity after backing up Tyler Zdon, who rushed for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons and plays for North Dakota. A 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior, Longtin has 450 yards and eight touchdowns on 82 carries in a new run-friendly offense for the Bulldogs (2-2, 1-1), who defeated Lakes in a Northern Lake County Conference game last week.

Longtin got a head start last season, when he was forced into action in multiple games while Zdon dealt with injuries.

“I went into the year figuring that my playing time would be pretty minimal,” Longtin said. “Once I got to play, I was pretty nervous at first but also excited because I live for football.”

Longtin, who finished with almost 600 rushing yards, scored a touchdown on his first varsity carry.

“Everyone was bigger and faster than I was used to, so I figured it would be harder,” he said. “But when I broke through the line on my first carry, that made me feel like I could do this, and it was a race to the pylon.”

Grant’s coaches were confident that Longtin would deliver.

“We knew he would be a pretty solid athlete we could depend on, and when we asked him to fill in for Tyler, he was great,” Grant coach Tim Norwood said. “He isn’t one to stutter his feet. He’s a one-cut kind of kid. He sees the field well, and he’s in position now to get a lot of touches, and each week he’s getting better.”

The Bulldogs are getting used to a newly installed triple-option, which is a long way from the spread offense they ran in recent years. But Longtin has fit in well. He rushed for 208 yards on 33 carries during Grant’s back-and-forth loss to conference co-leader Antioch on Sept. 4.

“It’s been a process having to relearn an entire new offense, but I’m up for whatever helps the team,” he said. “I’m pretty good with the packages I need to know, but they keep adding stuff, which will be good for us down the road.”

Many of the plays that work best are quick hits that take advantage of Longtin’s physical strength, which he bolstered in the offseason.

“You almost expect to get hit at or near the line and fight for yards,” he said. “Even if I meet a linebacker near the line, I like to think it will take multiple guys to take me down.”

Longtin receives the lion’s share of the carries, but the two wings in the triple-option are closely tied to that effort, blocking or creating misdirection. One of the two wings is junior Jackson Fudala, who has played with Longtin for most of his life and has seen this show before.

“He’s always been physically stronger than most others, even if he wasn’t bigger,” Fudala said. “He’s very physical but also shifty.

“When we need him to come through, he does. He always has been able to be that playmaker in clutch moments. That hasn’t changed since we were kids.”

But the stakes are higher. The Bulldogs, who qualified for the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, are trying to continue winning despite heavy graduation losses.

“Coming in, we knew we were looked at as underdogs, which I guess is nice,” Longtin said. “Proving people wrong is a good feeling because we know what we’re capable of.”