H-S Athlete of the Week: Tee Guesman, Albert Gallatin
Name: Tee Guesman
School: Albert Gallatin
Class: Senior
Sport: Football
Guesman鈥檚 week: Guesman exploded for 285 rushing yards and a school-record seven touchdowns on 38 carries in Albert Gallatin鈥檚 63-56 victory over Allegany in Cumberland, Maryland on Friday night. The Colonials, who rushed for 484 yards as a team, improved to 6-0 and have won nine consecutive games dating back to the 2024 season. It鈥檚 the longest active winning streak among area teams. Guesman scored on runs of 11, 17 and 14 yards in the first quarter, 17 yards in the third quarter and 37, 6 and 2 yards in the fourth quarter. 鈥淚 never scored three touchdowns in one quarter before,鈥� Guesman said. 鈥淚 had a feeling after my second touchdown that it was going to be a great night for me and my teammates. They just kept giving me the ball and I just kept trying to do what I usually do.鈥� What Guesman usually does is run hard between the tackles. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 get outside on them, they were guarding that so I just felt like it was on me to keep running strong inside and that was working the whole night.鈥� The Colonials needed every one of Guesman鈥檚 scores to win. 鈥淚 was getting nervous because our defense was having trouble getting stops. I knew we just had to keep scoring, too.鈥�
Final TD: With Albert Gallatin holding a 56-49 lead and close to scoring again late in the game, a discussion occurred with AG head coach Drew Dindl. 鈥淢y teammate, Adam Pegg, said I tied the record and needed one more touchdown to break it,鈥� Guesman said. 鈥淎t first I asked Coach, can I get it? But then I thought that鈥檚 maybe selfish of me so then I told him we should just kneel on it. But they still had timeouts left so then Coach said go for it.鈥� Guesman scored his last TD with 1:10 left. Allegany scored again with 23 seconds left and with no timeouts left went for an onside kick that was recovered by AG鈥檚 Aidan Garcia to seal the win.
Collision course: The 6-foot, 205-pound Guesman doesn鈥檛 often look to put moves on defenders. 鈥淚t鈥檚 natural to me to fight for yards,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes Coach tells me just go down when they鈥檙e all over you but I hate to do that. I just hold the ball with two hands and keep pushing until I can鈥檛 go any more. I love contact so those collisions don鈥檛 bother me at all.鈥� Guesman has help getting to the second level of defenses and that was no different against the Campers. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have gotten seven touchdowns without my offensive line. They open the holes to get me through that first wave every game.鈥�
Looking for 10-0: Guesman is aware the Colonials have a shot at an undefeated season. 鈥淭hat would mean a lot to us,鈥� Guesman said. 鈥淥ne thing about us is our chemistry is great this year and that helps a lot. I think the older guys, the juniors and seniors realize what we鈥檙e doing for this program this year. We鈥檒l text in a group chat and talk about stuff like that. A lot of people have put us down before but I think this year we鈥檙e showing everyone, hey, we have a really good team.鈥�
Ground assault: Albert Gallatin has rushed 2,052 yards and 30 touchdowns in its first six games with Guesman carrying 99 times for 863 yards and 16 TDs, which is two away from the single-season school record of 18 held by Cornell Dotson in 1995. The Colonials rely on an array of runners that also includes Pegg, Roman Smith and Clayton Bolinger along with quarterback Bronx Jamison who runs the show and keeps defense鈥檚 honest with a surprise pass now and then, often for big plays. 鈥淥ur starting team is the closest 11 guys you鈥檒l ever meet,鈥� Guesman said. 鈥淲e pick each other up. We don鈥檛 have any jealousy. We just have a good mix of guys.鈥�
Starting out: 鈥淚 started playing football when I was in the third grade,鈥� said Guesman who is the 17-year-old son of Bruce and Jennifer Guesman. 鈥淲e used to live in Greensburg but then we moved here when I was in sixth grade. When I first started I played on the line. Then in sixth grade they put me at quarterback and I played there throughout middle school and my freshman and sophomore years. Then my junior year I switched to running back. I like that a lot better. That鈥檚 my favorite position.鈥�
Caring coaches: Guesman has a strong relationship with the AG coaching staff. 鈥淐oach Drew has brought me a long way,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e was always there for me. All my coaches were there if I wasn鈥檛 doing well or was down. I think we have a really good coaching staff and they鈥檝e done a lot for me and our whole team.鈥�
Siblings aplenty: Guesman is part of a huge family. 鈥淭hirteen siblings, I鈥檓 one of the youngest out of the three 17-year-olds,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all adopted. I have three sisters and the rest are boys. There are four kids and my two parents in the house now, the others are older. I know all of them pretty well but sometimes I鈥檒l forget their birthdays and maybe send them a late birthday text. I鈥檓 thankful for my parents, especially for my dad. I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today without him.鈥�
Odds and ends: Guesman plays two fall sports. 鈥淚鈥檓 a starter on the soccer team, too,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been playing soccer since eighth grade.鈥� He also intends to run track in the spring. 鈥� Tee is short for Talysian. 鈥淧eople call me Tee because they can鈥檛 say my name,鈥� Guesman said. 鈥� He would like to play football in college. 鈥淲aynesburg gave me, Adam, CJ Colgan and J.J. Perrine a game-day visit and Fairmont State sent me an invitation for that. We鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�
鈥� Compiled by Rob Burchianti