Crayton just wanted to get it done for his teammates

LYNN – When it comes to high school football in Lynn there can be no better feeling than playing in your final Classical-English Thanksgiving game and scoring the game-winning touchdown with only seconds left on the clock.Classical’s Devin Crayton capped off his high school football career Thursday by scoring two touchdowns (including the game-winner), running in a conversion and sacking the English quarterback to put the brakes on a Bulldog drive late in the fourth quarter.”It feels good,” Crayton said. “I was nervous. I just wanted to get it done for my team.”Crayton has been a force for the Rams on both sides of the ball all season with more than a dozen touchdowns and countless big defensive plays, but his performance against English topped the list.Crayton’s first touchdown came midway through the third quarter after English had taken a 14-8 lead. Crayton got the call on second-and-two from the 13-yard-line and battled his way to the 3. He then took it the rest of the way on the next play, tying it at 14-14.English came back to tie the game and it looked like this one was headed to overtime when Crayton delivered again. After a 23-yard run that put the Rams on the doorstep, Crayton bulled his way into the end zone from the 1 and then ran the ball in for the conversion with 19 seconds left. The Bulldogs had no time to recover.”Devin’s an awesome kid,” Classical coach Tim Phelps said. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever coached.”Although Crayton has played a big role for the Rams offensively this season, Phelps has counted on him even more for his defense.”He’s dynamite on defense,” Phelps said, noting that Crayton is the team’s leading tackler.”Devin’s a great kid. He didn’t mind taking a back seat (when Micah Dublin was getting the carries). He still had 13 or 14 touchdowns. It takes a special kid to take a back seat, especially on offense, and Devin is a special kid.”Phelps said it brings him a lot of joy seeing a senior have a big game on Thanksgiving, but he’s quick to note that he has 18 seniors and they all worked hard for four years and made contributions.With his high school football career in the books, Crayton is considering his options for next year and the game plan includes playing football at the college level. He doesn’t know where yet, but he’s working on it.