McCOMB -- Hundreds of
players account for a few thousand touchdowns in
stadiums across Ohio each fall during the high school
football season.
But one touchdown by McComb junior Tyler Brown, tacked
on to the end of a 47-7 blowout win against Vanlue
during Week 6, was something special.
While most running backs can see a hole develop and
blast through it to paydirt, Brown can't.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder who is the team's manager
can't see much of anything.
"When I was out there I could see the defensive line
across from me but that's about it. I don't see anything
really, really clearly," Brown said.
"He's always been legally blind. He can see a little bit
but he has to basically turn his head sideways to see a
little bit of some shadows that he can distinguish,"
added McComb coach Kris Alge.
"He's always been close with Mason Roth and Andrew Dee
and the guys in that class. He has been a manager
growing up and they've taken him in and made sure he's
been a part of the team."
Brown would sometimes practice with his classmates
during his freshmen year. Alge talked to Brown's mom
before the start of this season to try and convince her
son to come out and play in a game.
"At the beginning of the year he told me what he wanted
me to do and I thought he was just messing around,"
Brown said. "He's always got these crazy ideas he's
throwing out there.
"Then, one week he just told me that I was dressing that
week. I was really nervous."
Brown made his football debut in Week 3 against Van
Buren.
One of Brown's classmates ran with him out on the field,
showed him where the ball was and lined him up at
noseguard when the Panthers were on defense.
On the first play, Brown hit Van Buren's center and
nearly knocked down a referee as the play developed on
the other side of the field. On the second snap, Brown
laid into the center and kept driving him up the field,
Alge recalled.
Brown saw action in the junior varsity game the
following morning. He was placed on the kickoff team, an
ill-advised move, and was drilled on the play.
Perhaps he was a little gun shy after his junior varsity
experience, but Brown decided to concentrate on his team
manager duties for a couple of weeks. Then, Alge was
able to convince him to dress against Vanlue on Oct. 3.
Up McComb leading 7-0 in the first quarter, Alge said,
"Brown you're in. Let's go!" And with that, he entered
the game at running back.
"We practiced it a little bit during the week so I
thought it would be all right. The first time I got the
ball, I got stuffed," Brown said. "The second time I got
the ball, the line opened a huge hole. I could have
walked through but I let the ball slip right out of my
hands."
Vanlue recovered the ball in the endzone and Alge
thought his plan to get Brown a touchdown wasn't meant
to be that night.
Late in the game, though, with the Panthers up 40-7, a
McComb backup player got tripped up one yard short of
the endzone on a 57-yard screen pass.
That gave Brown another shot.
"At halftime, Michael Keller told Coach Alge that they
should put me in at quarterback because we practice
snaps all the time. We practiced some snaps at halftime.
It made things a lot smoother," Brown said.
"I took the snap and two of our seniors, Clay Lilly and
Corey Fry, just pretty much wrapped me up and shoved me
in, they gave me a big push. I stood up and Clay Lilly
yelled to me, 'You're in!' and gave me a hug."
Brown jumped up and down in the end zone celebrating his
touchdown. And McComb's fans went wild in the stands.
"It was awesome, a cool opportunity. I'd like to thank
coach Alge and the rest of the guys on the team. It was
a really special moment and it meant a lot to me," Brown
said.
The TD was a special thing that McComb's players,
coaches, fans and, of course, Brown will never forget.
Jamie Baker can be reached
at 419-427-8409,
Story at the
Findlay Courier
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