ALBANY — Like any football player fortunate enough to still be playing this time of year, Dontavious Brown wants to win a state title.
The star running back for the Sherwood Christian Academy Eagles knows there would be no better finish to his high school football career. It would also be the perfect end to a season that has already been special in many ways.
While enjoying a good year from an individual standpoint is not out of the ordinary for Brown, playing this late in the season is. For the first time in his four years of high school football, Brown is a member of a football team with a winning record.
“I feel like we have had a good and successful year,” Brown said.
“We made it to the playoffs and had a winning season which is something I have never had. It has all been different.”
The Eagles went 9-2 in the regular season largely because of who was lined up behind the quarterback. Brown’s 1,590 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns are all career highs.
More impressive than that are the 15.2 yards he is averaging per carry.
“He is a special player and one who’s humble, works hard and does everything we ask him to do,” said head coach Reginald Mitchell. “There is no doubt that he has been a big part of the team’s success especially in the running game.”
It is fitting for Brown to receive such high marks of praise for his humility from Mitchell, considering how much Brown looks up to him. It’s such a close relationship that Brown, along with five other players, including best friend Phillip English, transferred from Albany High School to Sherwood during the summer when they first heard that Mitchell had departed to become the head coach for the Eagles.
“It was shocking for me,” Brown said about his reaction to the news.
One could make the argument that winning a state championship is something Brown wants more for his coach than anyone else.
“Coach Mitchell has been a father figure to me and has done a lot for me in my four years in high school,” he said. “He led me through all the hard times we had at Albany (High School) and helped me to stick through it and now has led us (Sherwood) to the playoffs.”
Entering the season, Brown told his coach that he wanted to rush for 1,000 yards. He eclipsed that mark with yards to spare. Brown wanted his last year to be a winning one.
With nearly every goal already accomplished, the only feat eluding Brown is a state championship. To get that, he and the Eagles will have to pass their second postseason test when they host Edmund Burke.
Coach Mitchell is anything but coy when it comes to what it will take from Brown to lead his team to victory.
“He is going to have to run well (today),” he said. “We are an offense that runs first and passes second; we run to set up the pass. It is going to be key that our running game is working well and clicking in the beginning. We are expecting these guys to run the ball well and do a good job.”
Normally a man of few words, Brown refused to underestimate the importance of playing well on both sides of the ball.
“Blocking and tackling are going to win the game,” he said. “If our offensive line blocks well and our defense makes tackles, we will win the game.”
Just a mention of the alternative happening causes Brown to shake his head in disgust.
“It will hurt me bad,” Brown said. “It would not be a letdown for the season, but we would not have achieved the goal that we were reaching for. The season will still be a good one.”
Regardless of the outcome and his performance, Brown has already earned the respect of not only his coach, but his teammates as well.
“It has been a success for me to just be able to block for him,” fullback English said. “He is a good athlete who can look forward to a great future. He is like a brother to me and one who I look up to on and off the field.”