If you check out a Camdenton football game, you’ll see a lot of passing downfield.
“It’s fun to watch, I’ll be honest with you it’s a good time. I turn into a fan sometimes,” said Camdenton Head Coach Jeff Shore.
Like a Lakers fan, sometimes Shore finds himself watching in awe.
“That’s kind of what I say on the sidelines, ‘what’s he doing? Oh touchdown, alright,'” Shore said.
In total, Shore has watched 53 touchdown passes by his quarterback, including seven last Friday against Parkview.
“I went to go get a drink at halftime, of water, and somebody was like hey congratulations Paxton and I didn’t know what [for],” said senior quarterback Paxton DeLaurent.
As it turns out, those 53 touchdowns give DeLaurent the most in Camdenton High School history.
“If you had a paintball gun with an endless supply of paintballs and you had a two hour paintball fight, you would keep pulling the trigger right?” Shore said.
Like paintballs down the barrel, Paxton has fired enough touchdowns to break the record previously held by Shore himself.
“32 years is a long time to hold on to any record,” Shore said.
That’s especially true in a successful program like Camdenton, but DeLaurent knows his coach is happy to see the record fall.
“He just wants to win and if I beat all of his records for it, then I think he’s fine with that.”
Still, Shore points out that he set the original record in a run heavy era, playing for his dad.
“I didn’t get to throw the ball nearly as many times as [Paxton does]. With old coach Shore, they didn’t realize they could do the forward pass back then,” Shore said.
Now Paxton looks to add onto the new record.
“At the beginning of the year, I was thinking like 50 touchdowns and 5,000 yards,” DeLaurent said.
Because he knows the higher those numbers climb, the longer the Lakers will play.
“So I think if I can get that done, then we’ll go all the way. The state championship is the goal so whatever numbers and accolades go along with it, I’ll be fine with,” DeLaurent said.
With number 11 slinging it downfield, that goal might just become reality.
The Lakers host West Plains this Friday.
