Don’t let the numbers fool you.
Listed at 5-foot-10, 157 pounds, Brenton Spann doesn’t fit the bill as a traditional power.
One glimpse at Spann’s No. 2 Friday night dismissed that notion. Looking like he was wearing a tattered paper jersey a la former Philadelphia High wunderkind Marcus Dupree, Spann’s black top sported a gash from his arm pit that went all the way down his left side. With his gray left shoulder pad exposed, Spann looked part warrior and part Terminator, primed to plow through the defense carry after carry after carry.
“He runs possessed,” New Hope High School football coach Kris Pickle said. “He runs hard, he runs determined. Coach (Michael) Campbell up in the box said, ‘You need to keep feeding it to him because he is feeling it. He is wanting it.”
Spann heeded the call to the tune of 32 carries for 255 yards and two touchdowns to lead New Hope to a 35-24 victory against Columbus.
The victory helped New Hope (2-0) snap a four-game losing streak in the series against its Lowndes County rival. It also marked the program’s first 2-0 start since the 2009 season, when the Trojans went 11-2 and advanced to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State title game.
Spann expertly played the role of workhorse, scoring on runs of 9 and 7 yards. The Trojans’ call of choice was a draw play that quarterback Stone Sisson and Spann worked perfectly. Spann used his speed and his shiftiness against the attacking defense to gash the Falcons for 10 gains of 10 yards or more. When he had to run between the tackles, Spann was willing to lower his shoulder and take on contact — and run through it. You wouldn’t think that Spann, who said he weighs 166 pounds, would be able to move piles, but he showed he was quite capable of doing that by churning his legs and breaking free of grab-happy tacklers, who were left with empty hands as Spann shifted into another gear.
“Coach (Pickle) has always been telling us get all we can get and run behind our pads,” Spann said. “He said it was going to be a battle and we had to go through the wall, so I just lowered my shoulders and kept going.”
Last week, Spann had 16 carries for 107 and an 11-yard touchdown in a 35-8 victory against Aberdeen. While Pickle said he ideally would love to have a balanced attack, he chose to feed a hot running back against Columbus. The decision paid off, as Spann fueled a running attack that piled up 280 yards on 47 carries.
“We have two other good backs — C.J. Clay and Oscar Lewis,” Pickle said. “I can’t say enough about those guys because they are all team players, but there is only one ball. If they were hot, they’re going to get the ball. We had to go with the hot hand, and it was Brenton tonight, and he did a good job carrying us.
“He ran behind his pads, and there is no telling how many of that 255 yards was yards after contact. I saw him carry the pile a couple of times. For a guy who is 165 pounds, that is nothing but heart and determination.”
Spann credits his brother, Brandon, who graduated from New Hope High last season, for his knack for grinding out yards. Brandon Spann is a redshirt at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville. Brenton, a junior, would like to follow in his brother’s footsteps and play football in college. With efforts like the one he had Friday night, Brenton Spann is bound to attract followers.
“I am trying to go as far as I can go and be all I can be,” Spann said. “I am trying to go to the top.”
The only problem for recruiters watching Spann is they better get a program. Spann started the game wearing No. 2, but that uniform took a beating. The biggest blow came in the third quarter when Spann nearly carried two defenders with him into the end zone to finish a 26-yard run. One of the tacklers used a handful of jersey as leverage to take down Spann at the 1-yard line. The result was a gashed uniform that left the junior an exposed side that he said felt a little cooler. He wore the No. 2jersey for five more carries before shifting to No. 43 early in the fourth quarter for a drive that sealed the deal. Spann had a 12-yard gain and a 10-yard gain in which that jersey nearly ripped to help give the Trojans a first-and-goal at the 4. Two penalties set New Hope back, but Spann carried once, Columbus was whistled for offsides, and he capped the drive with a 7-yard run that sent him falling into the end zone.
“The kid ran hard,” Columbus coach Randal Montgomery said. “He had some runs down the stretch that kind of carried them to victory. That is what you want in a kid that when you get to the fourth quarter you want that guy that you can put the ball in his stomach and say, ‘Carry us home.’ That is what he did for them, and, unfortunately, we came out on the back side of the loss.”
Montgomery and Pickle appreciated the effort of Spann because they are old enough to recall Dupree, who made the tear-away jersey famous in his career in part because he was so strong and so quick. If Friday is any indication, New Hope assistant coach Kyle Watson would be wise to pack an extra skill position jersey just in case Spann continues to leave defenders with empty hands.
Pickle praised Watson, the team’s offensive line coach, for packing the 12th-man bag, which includes extra jerseys for skill position players, backs, and linemen. The bag also has shoulder pads, cleats, and other necessities.
Once he had a fresh jersey, Spann did the rest.
“The best thing Brenton does is whenever he makes a cut he is full speed in a step,” Pickle said. “He has that burst. That is something you can’t teach at running back. The guys who have that are the ones who are explosive and ones that have the big plays. … He runs through a lot of guys because of that initial burst.”
When asked what the term workhorse means to him, Spann said, “to get down there and grind and get better every day. To correct our small mistakes and to have as few mistakes as possible.” He said he feels a little more physical than he was last year and that he is learning how to take contact and to lower his shoulders more. Thats a good sign for Pickle and the Trojans and a bad sign for opponents.
“We all have to come out and grind,” said Spann, who believes someone is going to stitch his No. 2 jersey back together. “We are just trying to open up a lot of eyes. We are trying to stay focused and stay on our goal, and stay down and grind.”
Whether it is wearing No. 2 or No. 43 on the journey, Spann is going to juke, grind, and lower his shoulders and run over anyone he needs to help the Trojans reach their destination.
“If a running back gets his jersey torn off that is usually a good sign,” Pickle said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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