SANFORD — After having a stand-out senior season, in which he ran past, over, and through would-be tacklers, Sanford running back Alex Shain has been named a finalist for Fitzpatrick Trophy.

Shain, along with Cheverus running back Donald Goodrich and Cony wide receiver Chandler Shostak, will find out on Jan. 20 who will be named the 42nd winner of the award, given to the top senior high school football player in the state.

“It’s a great feeling. I’ve worked really hard,” said Shain. “It’s always been a dream of mine.”

Shain finished his senior season with 1,426 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns, and 65 tackles from the middle linebacker position.

“Obviously he had a tremendous season, which we’re hoping he would, because we felt like a lot of our success revolved around his season,” said Sanford head coach Mike Fallon. “He’s a special football player. There’s no question about it.”

Shain had been mentioned as a possible contender for the award going into the season after a breakout junior season. That’s when Fallon planted the seed in Shain’s head that the award was attainable.

“(After my) junior year, coach Fallon took a newspaper, and it was the Fitzy finalists from the past I don’t know how long, and he’s like ”˜is your name going to be on here,’ and he wrote a question mark,” Shain recalled.

Shain said the award has been a goal since before that, however.

“It’s just motivation since freshman year, and I knew I wanted to be at least a finalist. We’ll see what happens,” said Shain.

Contributions on the field are not the only determining factor in the award, as contributions to the community and academic excellence are also taken into consideration. Fallon said Shain excels there, too.

“He’s just that kid. You talk to faculty members that have had him in class, or even if they haven’t had him in class and just know him, (he’s) very well-respected by the faculty and administration at the school,” said Fallon. “And I think that, in and of itself, is really telling.”

Fallon said that Shain went above and beyond the duties of a normal football captain, as he spear-headed summer captains’ practices and weight training, and gave rides to younger kids to and from those sessions.

“That’s what makes it even nicer, is to have a really, really talented athlete like this, and on top of this you get to celebrate the fact that he’s a really good kid,” said Fallon. “It just makes it even more special.”

There were times the Shain almost literally carried the Spartans on his back, and Fallon said sometimes he was resigned to just keep giving the ball to Shain and hoping he could work his magic.

“We kind of almost joked about that at times, when you have that luxury as a coach to have such a tremendous athlete in your backfield, when you’re in a pinch and say ”˜alright, when all else fails, give him the ball, he’ll make us all look good,’” said Fallon.

If Shain does win the award, he will become the fourth Sanford player to win it, and the first since Kevin Bougie in 1999. Sanford’s other Fitzpatrick Trophy winners were Paul Belanger in 1976 and Tony Matoin in 1978.

“You feel a little bit spoiled ”¦ because you just don’t get kids like this very often,” said Fallon. “When you have a kid like this, you almost savor it. You try to anyway.”

Shain said he isn’t dwelling on the date of the ceremony, which is nearly a month away. But he said that will probably change.

“I’m going to try not to think about it, and go on with my life. Once it starts coming, I’m sure it will start creeping in my mind again,” he said. “It’s exciting to see what happens.”

— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.