Isbell catches on during senior year at Wash High
Wash High’s DeQuay Isbell scored 20 touchdowns during his senior season, including this 80-yard punt return against Waynesburg. Isbell is the Observer-Reporter’s Male Athlete of the Year.
DeQuay Isbell of Washington won the 400-meter dash in 48.77 seconds during the WPIAL Class AA boys’ track and field championships held at Baldwin. Isbell also won the WPIAL Class AA 200 dash.
Wash High’s DeQuay Isbell averaged 14.6 points and 6.7 rebounds as a senior.
Wash High’s DeQuay Isbell was a multi-purpose threat last fall.
DeQuay Isbell always had the athleticism. Even when he played youth baseball, Isbell often reached first base by bunting before stealing second base.
There was a problem, though. Isbell could not hit a baseball or even catch one.
“I was probably the worst catcher I’ve ever seen,” Isbell joked. “I played center field and I could not catch anything. I couldn’t hit at all either.”
Once he figured out the catching, Isbell turned into a football player. He still hasn’t figured out how to hit a baseball, but the recent Washington High School graduate hasn’t needed that skill.
He’s been too busy excelling in track, football and basketball.
Opposing football coaches called him one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the WPIAL.
Onlookers marveled at his ability to finish a race on the track.
It did not matter whether it was embarrassing defensive backs on Friday nights in the fall or cementing himself as the latest in a long line of tremendous sprinters on the track for Wash High, Isbell’s speed was unmatched during his high school career.
The 6-1 basketball forward didn’t even need to use that quickness to make a big impact for Prexies in their march to the WPIAL basketball playoffs, averaging 14.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
A wide receiver and defensive back, Isbell helped Wash High’s football team return to the WPIAL Class AA semifinals. He used his blazing quickness to stretch opposing defenses and was an incredibly dangerous kickoff and punt returner.
Isbell also broke Wash High’s school-record in the 400-meter dash, winning two WPIAL gold medals and returning to the medal stand at the state championships.
It added up to one of the most impressive seasons for a Wash High athlete in recent years and earned Isbell the title of Observer-Reporter Male Athlete of the Year.
“I feel like I had a great senior year,” Isbell said. “It was exciting. A lot of things happened that I didn’t expect, but overall it went very well.”
No kidding.
In his first season taking on a major role in Wash High’s offense, Isbell had 761 yards on 24 pass receptions, a 31.7-yard average (3rd in the WPIAL) with 14 receiving touchdowns. He also returned two punts, one kickoff and an interception for touchdowns, finishing the year with seven multi-TD games.
Nowhere was Isbell’s growth as a football player more evident than in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals. Matched up with Apollo-Ridge’s Tre Tipton, a Pitt recruit, Isbell turned around the future Panther on a slant route and beat him for a 39-touchdown to give the Prexies the lead.
“(Isbell) turned into a very good athlete and he made a lot of big plays for us,” Wash High head coach Mike Bosnic said. “He became one of the top playmakers in the WPIAL and he truly was a threat to score every time he touched the ball. He came a long way.”
As a junior, Isbell was seen more as a track standout who played football. That wasn’t a negative connotation. He won the PIAA Class AA title as a junior with the Prexies’ 3,200-meter relay team and owned countless medals.
Isbell got even better as a senior, taking second place in the PIAA 400-meter dash and seventh in the 200-meter dash. He won WPIAL titles in both events, breaking the school record in the 400.
After giving up baseball, Isbell stumbled upon track and ran in his first meet during middle school. Growing up in a household with two talented older brothers, Tommy and Jaylin Kelly, Isbell always wanted to find his sport. Tommy was an exceptional basketball player. Jaylin, who started 12 games as a linebacker for Youngstown State last season, was a standout on the football field. Isbell was always in their shadow.
Track changed that.
“I was always undersized compared to them and I wasn’t developed,” Isbell said. “Once I started to improve in track, I thought that it could be the sport that I could be better in than them. I stuck with it because I wanted to make a name for myself.”
He did that and more. After a successful junior season in track, nobody would have blamed Isbell for dropping one of his three sports to focus on earning a scholarship. That wasn’t an option.
In fact, Isbell’s one regret is not competing in four sports, choosing to not run indoor track during basketball season.
“He’s progressed. The (track) team before him brought him along,” Wash High sprint coach Richie Barnes said at the PIAA Championships. “It’s been great having him. I look forward to seeing him do big things. You’ll be hearing about him.”
Isbell decided to attend Youngstown State to run track and major in exercise science. His days of being a multi-sport athlete might not be over. He has been invited to walk on to the Penguins’ football team.
The long workouts and time spent on the track working with his mother, Patricia Gordon, were done with one goal in mind – earning a spot on a Division I track program.
Mission accomplished.
“I wanted to get back to states and get back on the medal stand,” Isbell said. “It feels good to have accomplished those goals and I’m excited for the future.”