Mike Brown, a junior, has ascended the depth chart rapidly at Brandon.
By ROD GIPSON
Published October 23, 2005
TAMPA - Mike Brown has had his share of stop-and-stare moments this season. But Brandon coach Jim Wilt says one stands out. With the Eagles trailing Riverview 14-12 with 45 seconds on the clock and Brandon facing a hopeless situation, the improbable happened.
The Eagles held Riverview, forcing a punt. The deep kick was fielded by Brown, who swirled, twirled and turned up the sideline. Brown returned the kick 50 yards to the 38-yard line, helping set up a field goal as time expired that gave Brandon a 15-14 victory.
"When you look at some of his runs on tape you see how great he is with the football," said Wilt, in his third season as the Eagles' coach. "He just does some things sometimes that make you realize what a player he is."
Plenty of opponents have realized what a player Brown has become this season. At 5 feet 9, 170 pounds, the junior tailback has made plenty of defenses take notice. Hillsborough County's leading rusher for part of this season, Brown is third among county rushers with 1,047 yards and 11 touchdowns.
"It's been a little tougher getting yards this year," Brown said. "Now a lot of people are preparing for me. It's a little bit of adversity but I work through it. I might get stopped on a lot of plays but I keep working and eventually I get my yards."
Brown is getting his yards, but Wilt had no idea what kind of player he was before last season.
As a sophomore, Brown's basketball prowess preceded him on the football field. Not sure what to do with his new runner, Wilt inserted Brown on the scout team as an extra body. When Brown continuously ran circles around the defense, he knew he had something special.
"He just gave the scout teams so much trouble," Wilt said. "He worked himself into the lineup."
And since he has been there, he has helped change the Eagles' fortunes.
After opening the year with two losses, including a one-point loss to upstart Newsome on the game's last play, Brandon won three straight.
And despite Thursday's 43-0 loss to Armwood, Brandon is still within grasp of its first playoff berth since 1996. The Eagles are 4-5 but 1-1 in Class 5A, District 7, tied for second with Plant City. That makes the stakes huge for Brandon's game Friday at East Bay.
"The district shaped out like we thought it would," Wilt said. "Any one of us can beat anyone else. We just have to go out and play good football and not shoot ourselves in the foot."
Which means playing smart, limiting turnovers and giving East Bay a steady dose of Brown. That has been the plan throughout the season but Wilt said Brown has been almost too good at times. Switching from their traditional Wing T to an I-back formation to get Brown more touches didn't work out midway through the season.
"He changes how we go at defenses," Wilt said. "Maybe a little too much. We went back to the Wing and defenses had more to defend instead of just Mike out of that one-back formation. And he still gets his yards in the Wing T."
Brown got his yards against Durant (137), against King (115), Plant City (175) and especially against Bloomingdale in a 41-20 victory (175 in the first half). Numbers, Brown said, that are a result of hard work, good teammates and plenty of confidence.
"When I step on the field I feel like I'm the best out there," Brown said. "This time of the season we have to stay focused and we can't take any plays off. We just have to bring it every play."
