Romain Talks About His Future

Dillon Romain did everything in his power to help Don Bosco Prep continue to be the powerhouse they have always been this past season and now he will spend a year at Blair Academy giving schools some extra time to see him play on both sides of the ball. We talked to the usually quiet recruit a bit recently to get his thoughts on his situation.

Don Bosco Prep running back Dillon Romain was a force to be reckoned with this season for the Ironmen. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound senior needed to play some defense this season to help his stock with colleges, but due to injuries in the backfield, he sacrificed himself for the good of the team, and may have missed on some scholarship opportunities while being selfless. Teams seemed to be looking for Romain to show more on defense, however taking a look at his offensive statistics against top-shelf competition says a lot.

This year Don Bosco went up against two national powerhouses in St. Xavier from Ohio and De LaSalle from California, as well as a St. Joseph’s Montvale team that was very stingy against the run. He carried the ball 14 times for 104 yards and a score against St. Xavier, 24 times for 152 yards and a touchdown against De LaSalle and then put up 136 yards and four touchdowns against a St. Joe’s Montvale team that had not allowed a touchdown all season long. Two other running backs that couldn’t score against Montvale were Tennessee commitment Nyshier Oliver and Notre Dame commitment Theo Riddick who was led by the best center in the nation in California commitment Mark Brazinski. On top of that Romain was voted Gatorade Player of the Year, broke current Green Bay Packer running back Ryan Grant’s single season rushing record and also first-team All-State by the coaches’ association and you have to wonder what the story is.

“I got a few Division I offers toward the very end of my recruiting and was very happy to get them, but it was so late in the game that I really didn’t get the chance to become comfortable with one school,” Romain explained. “At that point my father and I discussed my future and we both decided that attending Blair Academy for a year would be in my best interests.”

We asked Romain how he felt about not getting to play on defense this year, something that didn’t help him any.

“Football is a team game and I’m part of a team,” Romain said. “Obviously in an ideal situation I would have gotten to play some safety this year, but some of our guys had injury problems and I needed to be the workhorse for the rest of my teammates. The coaches decided that I needed to be used strictly on the offensive side of the ball because the team needed it, so that’s what I did. They’re the coaches, I’m a player and I have teammates to worry about that I’ve spent my entire high school career with, so sacrifices had to be made. I don’t regret anything right now, but I do hope that at Blair people see that I’ve been a team guy in the past and that I have the ability to play at the highest levels as well.”

It was a bit of a surprise that the home-state school Rutgers did not offer Romain, given his portfolio and the fact that his father is a New Jersey State Trooper, but the Scarlet Knights did give him an opportunity as a preferred walk-on at the end of recruiting.

“I was really happy to get that opportunity from Rutgers because I’ve always loved them and wanted to go there, but I’m going to work hard and see if I can’t get some scholarships for school this year,” Romain said. “At Blair they said they want me to play running back, safety, some cornerback and return kicks and punts, so I’ll get plenty of opportunities on the field. My grades have been pretty good (92-percent GPA) and I’m going to work on keeping them there at Blair as well. I just look at this as an opportunity to grow one more year and show what I can do, that’s all.”

Romain was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of New Jersey as a senior and finished the season with 1435 yards and 25 touchdowns on 206 carries. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown when he was playing safety early in the season.