San Pedro High football senior running back Darrell 'Deejay' Santiago was a thorn in the side of all those opposing linebackers trying to bring him down, and he was a natural born leader for the Pirates.

There have been several running backs in over 100 years of Pirate football history who have had great success in gaining yardage and putting the ball in the end zone like Jim Decker, Ron Barber Sr., Bryan Castaneda, Holman Wiggins, J'Vone Hibbler, Joseph Deguchi and Cristian Farrow just to name a few... and Santiago ranks among the top of them all.

Santiago finished his three-year career with 2,948 rushing yards, second behind Hibbler's 3,117 from 2004-2006, and has the school record for rushing touchdowns with 40. He also holds the record for most touchdowns in a single game, when he rushed for 289 yards on 21 carries and six touchdowns in a 59-0 win over Washington Prep of Los Angeles during his sophomore season. 

That type of career is one of many reasons why Santiago was chosen as the 2012 Marine League Co-Offensive Player Of The Year, an honor he shares with Gardena senior running back Tyree Simmons.

In 2012, Santiago ran for 1,304 yards on 193 carries and 16 touchdowns, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. His longest run was his first carry of the season, a 34-yard touchdown in a 53-0 win over West Adams Prep of Los Angeles on August 30, which was his only carry of the game. Overall, Santiago accounted for a team-high 98 of the Pirates' 372 points this season, including a two-point conversion run in a 29-0 win over Fairfax of Los Angeles on September 21.

That victory over Fairfax provided Santiago's best rushing effort of the season, running for 182 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. The dubious career touchdown record was broken on Santiago's second of three rushing touchdowns in a 51-7 win over Westchester on September 28.

He may not have been the fastest runner of the team, but Santiago was easily the toughest in terms of gaining short yardage on third down-and-short situations, which is the main reason why he was able to rush for 40 touchdowns with the help of great blocking by San Pedro's offensive line opening the holes, and in some cases, guiding him through on tough scrimmages.

Deejay's final touchdown came on a 15-yard run midway through the fourth quarter in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section quarterfinals against Venice, which gave the Pirates a 24-20 lead before the Gondoliers rallied to win in the final seconds.

All in all, Darrell Santiago will forever be remembered as one of the all-time greats in San Pedro High School football history, and set the standard for all future Pirate running backs to follow.

(Note: Photo courtesy of San Pedro High School)