Last weekend, the Samford Bulldogs beat The Citadel 37-7 to keep a five-game winning streak against the rival Bulldogs alive. Almost no one on the current Samford roster has lost to The Citadel, including one of Samford’s longest-tenured players, Jay Stanton. In Stanton’s career at Samford, he has scored five rushing touchdowns against The Citadel. In his past matchup with the Bulldogs, Stanton tied Samford’s rushing touchdown record with 34 for his career.
Stanton is also second all-time for career rushing yards at Samford. He is approximately a thousand yards away from overtaking running back Chris Evans, who broke the record in 2009.
“No, it (the record) was actually a surprise for me. I knew about going into being second for rushing yards, but I didn’t know about the touchdowns at all. I don’t count my touchdowns, so it was a surprise,” Stanton said.
Stanton, who grew up with three older sisters, credits his family and his faith with the success he has has in football. From the start of Stanton’s career, he’s been a heavily utilized player in the Chris Hatcher offensive scheme, seeing action in 11 games, rushing for 690 yards and scoring seven touchdowns.
“I know my first touchdown, I was thinking in my head, I wonder if my dad was seeing this. I’m his only son, and I want to keep him proud knowing he is watching all my games,” said Stanton.
Through his time at Samford, Stanton has been a part of many spectacular moments with the football program. He was a SoCon all-freshman selection in his first year. In his junior year, he was a part of the offense that broke a first-half scoring record against SEC juggernaut Florida. Stanton even scored a touchdown against the Gators.
“It was crazy; it was super loud. My mind went blank throughout the whole play, and I hit the endzone, and it was a real lit feeling,” Stanton said.
In his senior season, he helped lead the Bulldogs to a record season in which they won the SoCon Championship after an 11-2 campaign.
Stanton plans to be a sports psychologist after college, and is considering taking a gap year and spending time with family in his hometown of Crestview, FL. But, for now, Stanton will look forward to the final games of this season, where he will try to beat the rushing touchdown record. You can catch Stanton and the Bulldogs in action on Saturday, Nov. 11, when they face Mercer on the road.
Editor-in-Chief
