By Joseph Santoliquito
Special to MaxPreps.com
It’s something Corey Brown is not that proud to remember, nor to repeat, at least not to his teammates. It’s the kind of backstory best tucked away, left to collect dust and forgotten. It’s the first time the standout Cardinal O’Hara (Pa.) junior tailback ever carried a football in a game.
He was eight, playing for the Oxford Circle Raiders, a club team based in Philadelphia, when he took a handoff, got whacked to the ground and started crying—asking for his mother. That’s right. One hit—and he was out of the game.
“Yep, that was me,” Brown says, laughing. “I can laugh about it now. You can say I’ve done a lot of growing up since then.”
Brown has. Now he makes opposing coaches and defenders wince every time they try to devise a game plan to stop the elusive 6-foot-1, 181-pound speedster.
He has Rutgers, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Maryland, Tennessee and host of other major Division I schools all interested.
It just seems light years from the kid who was once too afraid to sign up for football, because he didn’t like contact.
“I used to tag around with my older brother all of the time, following him to practice, when my mother told him to sign me up,” said Brown, who now lives in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. “I didn’t want to sign up. I was scared of contact. I used to play with my older sister a lot. I’d hang out with her all of the time.”
But Delene Williams, Brown’s mother, wasn’t having it.
“She forced me to sign up,” Brown said, laughing again. “I didn’t have a choice. It’s funny, because I love football now—it’s like my life. After that first game, we didn’t lose another game again, and the second game I was fine. I really don’t know what changed it. Maybe I needed that first game, that wake-up call.”
Brown can pretty much do it all. He’s considered among the top 50 high school juniors in the country, and one of the best tailbacks in the nation. His fluid motion and explosive speed make him a threat every time he touches the ball.
What’s more, Brown is a complete football player. Defensively, he’s O’Hara’s shut-down cornerback.
And as far as contact, “I love it,” Brown said. “If I have to, I’ll lower my shoulder and I’ll run over people. But my big thing is making people miss.”
Brown says he likes patterning his game after West Virginia’s Noel Devine. He likes Devine’s balance, the way he attacks a defense. Any time Brown has a chance, he’s either in front of a computer devouring clips of Devine, or pouring over tape.
O’Hara is 4-0 this season. Through the first month of the year, Brown has rushed for eight touchdowns and 565 yards on 56 carries (an average of 10 yards per carry). He also has eight receptions for 100 yards and three more TDs.
There really isn’t anything Brown can’t do on a football field.
“Corey’s ridiculously good,” said O’Hara senior quarterback Thomas Savage, one of the top QBs in the nation, headed to Rutgers and scheduled to play in the Army All-Star game in January. “I remember the first time I saw him as a freshman, I never saw anyone up close that fast. I could tell then he was going to be special. He certainly makes life easy on me, and actually everyone on our offense.
“When we split Corey out wide, he takes two and sometimes three players with him. That opens up everything for everyone else. He’s that kind of player. You can’t ignore him.”
Brown is unsure where his future is headed—college-wise. Presently, his big concern is getting O’Hara a Catholic League championship, and berth in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AAAA state playoffs.
“I really haven’t thought too much about where I want to go to school yet,” Brown said. “Me and my mother have talked about it, but whether it’s far or close, that won’t matter. I’m still getting used to all this attention. It’s a little nerve racking, but I’m starting to warm up to it. My biggest concern is staying humble, because that’s the way I was raised, and helping us win games.
“I don’t like looking at my stats. I don’t like bragging about myself, and I hate players who do that. I just want to play the game and succeed.”
That’s nothing to cry about.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
