His nickname is Petey.
But you can call Lloyd Memorial’s Isaiah Sebastian the Swiss-army knife, jack of all trades, lockdown corner, a safety net, multi-positional, multi-sport athlete.
The most important label of them all? A leader.
“He’s the most humble, decorated player I’ve ever coached,” Juggernauts coach Kyle Niederman said. “When he says all he wants to do is win, he means that.”
Sebastian enters his senior year as one of the most decorated players to ever put on a Juggernauts football uniform in program history. Where to start…he’s thrown for 1,211 yards and 12 touchdown passes, rushed for 1,655 yards and 23 touchdowns, caught 31 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns, made 77 tackles, returned three of his 10 career interceptions for touchdowns, forced three fumbles and returned six punts for touchdowns.
That’s a lot of yards, 3,250 of them when tallying up passing, running and throwing to go with 47 touchdowns whether throwing, running, receiving, intercepting passes or returning punts. The label as one of the best to ever do it in Erlanger means a lot to Sebastian.
“I wouldn’t want to do it for anyone else. Coach (Niederman) does it right and teaches everyone right,” Sebastian said.
Sebastian will now shift most of his attention to receiver, his natural position after having to fill in at quarterback the past two seasons due to Kaleb Evans’ injuries. Playing QB has helped Sebastian even more at the wide receiver position.
“It’s helped me a lot,” Sebastian said. “I know where the QB wants his receivers.”
What makes Sebastian the ultimate team player is not all the numbers above and sacrifices made. He knows if he’s double teamed or if the opponent doesn’t even think about sending a punt in his direction, it’s still a win for the team. He takes pride in those kinds of plays.
“He opens up receivers. When he’s deep on punt return and they don’t punt to him, he wears that with honor,” Niederman said. “He’s a positive kid. Checks in with me all the time whether at school or not. He’s a pleasurable kid to coach.”
That type of mindset can help the Juggernauts go a long way despite losing 17 seniors from last season’s 10-2 squad. Lloyd has posted back-to-back 10-win seasons, something they haven’t done since before 1990.
With Evans at QB, it should open up the offense to be more two-dimensional. Sebastian averaged about seven pass attempts per game last season when he had to be the quarterback. In Evans four games played at the end of the season, the Juggernauts averaged a little over 21 pass attempts per game. That diversity opens things up for Yuri Collins-Comer, a near 1,000-yard back in his junior season with 958 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Others will benefit too like receivers Tyler Copeland and Elijah Collins.
Sebastian holds an offer from Thomas More University, a big step in the direction if he wants to pursue playing in college.
“That means a lot,” Sebastian said. “As a kid I’ve always wanted to play college ball. Once I’m done with high school, I want to have somewhere to go, something to do. I’d love to continue my career as a college football player.”
When he’s not dazzling on the football field, he’s a starter for the Juggernauts basketball team, the back-to-back 34th District champions and region semifinalist the past three seasons. Sebastian hit a buzzer-beater against Dixie Heights to win the district title this past season. He has an opportunity to hit the 1,000-point milestone this season, scoring 657 points in his high school career.
But first, he’s tending to business on the football field.