Brandon loses running back

By SCOTT PURKS
Published August 16, 2006

BRANDON - Brandon's Mike Brown, expected to be among Hillsborough County's best running backs this season, will sit out Friday's preseason classic and the first game of the regular season for violating undisclosed team and school rules.

"It's a disciplinary action that had to be taken," Brandon athletic director Johnny Bush said Tuesday.

Brown, a 5-foot-8, 171-pound senior, was timed at 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash during a recent combine, and he has garnered interest from several Division I schools, including Arkansas and Iowa State.

He will miss the preseason classic at Freedom and the season opener at home against Chamberlain (a nondistrict game) on Aug. 25. He can return Sept. 1 at Newsome (also nondistrict).

"He's a great athlete, no doubt about that," first-year Brandon coach John Lima said.

"This is just discipline that needs to be taken care of."

Brown, who will not be made available for comment during the suspension, finished 2005 with 1,337 yards and 17 touchdowns on 183 carries, gaining 7.3 yards per rush.

[Last modified August 16, 2006, 01:48:30]