Alejandro Duarte, a senior running back and linebacker at Kewanee High School, has been named to the Class 4A all-state team by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association (IHSFCA).
Duarte has been invited to receive his all-state plaque and be introduced on the field prior to the state championship game in Bloomington.
In a letter to Duarte, the IHSFCA wrote, “Congratulations on your achievement! As coaches we know that this honor reflects hours of sacrifice and hard work for you, your teammates, your coaches and especially your parents.”
Duarte set or tied a number of school records during his football career at KHS:
— Career points scored: 250. He broke the record of 223 points that had been set by Braden Clark.
— Single-season points scored: 146. The previous record of 119 had been held by James Hart and Marc Bubnick.
— Single-season rushing yards: 1,455. Bubnick’s 1,346 yards in 1999 was the previous record.
— Career rushing yards: 2,587, second only to Dontae Pryor’s 2,823.
— Career rushing touchdowns: 37, passing the previous record of 30 sent by Nels Fugelsang in 1915.
— Single-season rushing touchdowns: 21. Hart and Bubnick had each led with 17.
— Rushing touchdowns in a game: Duarte accomplished this twice. Two other KHS players had also scored five TDs in a game, Mark Shunick in 1965 and Pryor in 2011.
