Faith, leadership and resilience: How Paxton DeLaurent became SEMO's all-time leading passer

Paxton DeLaurent’s journey to becoming Southeast Missouri State’s all-time leading passer in yards (6,563) and touchdowns (50), helped him set both records Saturday, Oct. 12, during a 34-3 win over Tennessee Tech and has resembled the original Star Wars trilogy.

DeLaurent provided the Redhawks with a new hope in 2022, his first year as a Division I quarterback. The Central Methodist transfer led the Redhawks to their first OVC championship and FCS playoff appearance since 2019, while his stats were among SEMO’s single-season leaders in passing yards (fourth, 2,684), pass completions (fifth, 210), pass completion percentage (61%., eighth), pass attempts (eighth, 344) and passing touchdowns (fourth, 19).

However, in 2023, the competition struck back. The Redhawks finished 4-7, and DeLaurent missed the final third of the season with a shoulder injury. He finished with 1,608 yards and 10 touchdowns with two interceptions in six games.

This season is the return of the Redhawks. SEMO dominated in its first appearance on ESPN, took back the wheel in a landslide win over Southern Illinois and has risen to No. 8 in both the FCS media and coaches poll.

All the while DeLaurent is performing like one of the best quarterbacks in all of FCS. In seven games, he has thrown for 2,087 yards (third in FCS) and 20 touchdowns (first in FCS) with six interceptions.

DeLaurent threw for a career-high 418 yards against Tennessee Tech to get both school records. Despite the high volume of passing plays, it was the first time in his career he had thrown for over 400 yards in a game.

“It's super cool to be the all-time record holder in touchdowns and yards,” DeLaurent said. “It's something you always dream about. I know when I got to college, I put down goals like that and to achieve things and to see it happen is a great blessing.”

DeLaurent mentioned the many teammates he had along the way at SEMO, from the five-year guardians on the offensive line to current Dallas Cowboys receiver Ryan Flournoy to the current group of wide receivers who are all sharing in the success.

“Most importantly, it's about this team and the guys that are doing it, and the ability to keep playing,” DeLaurent said. “I really feel like God is here with us and he's going to keep letting me go forward and lead this team.”

Faith has been the backbone of DeLaurent's growth as a quarterback and leader. In an earlier conversation with him leading up to the beginning of the season, continuing the faith was the top lesson he learned after enduring a season of adversity last year.

“He's using you for a purpose,” DeLaurent said in August. “Ultimately, I play this game to grow in my leadership, to become a better person, to help teammates do that.”

As successful as this season has been, it was not without its own brand of adversity. About 672,000 people saw DeLaurent get knocked off his feet by a North Alabama defender and land on his non-throwing shoulder on ESPN. While he has not missed a game this season, it's an injury that has lingered.

At the same time, no team has seemingly relied on a player more than the Redhawks have relied on DeLaurent. SEMO won an emotional 45-42 home opener against UT Martin in double overtime Sept. 7, after DeLaurent threw a career-high 63 passes and six touchdowns.

He said last month that he prayed for a sign when the Redhawks were down 14 points in the fourth quarter and it presented itself in the form of Mitch Sellers being open to catch three touchdowns, fueling the comeback win.

“The fourth quarter of that UT Martin game, I think emotionally, I was a great leader,” DeLaurent said last month. “I was staying positive, keeping guys up, and I think that just leads to everything I worked in the offseason, which just helped my mental health and my spiritual relationship with God. I was praying in the fourth quarter. I prayed before the game, to just be a good leader.”

The Redhawks had a bye week leading up to one of the most important games of the season. Even with the rest, DeLaurent had a choice regarding his injured shoulder. He revealed his decision-making process during the Wednesday, Oct. 9, Fields of Faith event at Houck Field.

“I found out the information on Thursday (Sept. 26) from the doctors and I was going to have to get surgery. It was just a matter of when,” DeLaurent said. “Do I decide to get surgery right now, redshirt, and maybe have to transfer to a new college, or was I going to persevere through the season and get surgery after?

“If I made that decision on my own, it wouldn't have happened," he added. “I remember that night, Thursday night, which was just a couple of weeks ago, I was crying. I just decided that I was going to sleep with the bible on my chest. I've never done anything like that, never been one of those guys that does the double hands and worship a whole lot or any big moment like that, I felt I needed the Lord so bad in that moment.”

This season, while one of success, has also been one of attrition. With every week, the resilient Redhawks have suffered key losses while still winning games and maintaining a perfect record against fellow FCS competition.

“Resilience is a great word,” DeLaurent said. “We just got a really determined group. I think we're senior-led but we're also underclassmen that we're around how we lost last year, and they just want to work their butts off and make sure that thing doesn't happen again. Like, guys are just working really hard, getting better in practice. We understand we're not as good as we need to be yet still, and that's a great attribute to have.”

SEMO was 6-1 in 2022 and suffered its first FCS loss at homecoming against Eastern Kentucky. The Redhawks hope to prevent that this year as they travel to take on Charleston Southern on Saturday, Oct. 19, before returning for homecoming against Gardner-Webb on Oct. 26.