Ten 10 MaxPreps stories from fall of 2012

From a record-setting rusher to blind athletes to 67-yard field goals to 21-year-old imposters, the fall of 2012 had it all. Here's a sampling.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Mitch Stephens
By
Jan 2, 2013, 3:00pm

4. Blind football player scores a touchdown

Since losing most of his sight seven years ago, Braddock (Miami) junior Davonte Pollard said his other senses have intensified enormously.

Davonte Pollard, Braddock
Davonte Pollard, Braddock
Photo by Stuart Browning
Through touch, the 16-year-old can read - "I learned Braille within two months," he said proudly – and make music. He plays the guitar and piano.

His voice is loud and clear – he sings and raps and one day hopes to be the next Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles. He can also say the name of the inherited, degenerative eye disease that took his sight — "Retinitis pigmentosa" — with perfect diction and pronunciation.

Pollard's greatest sense, he says, is hearing.
"I can be on one side of the gym and hear what someone is whispering on the other," he said.

But Pollard thought his ears were playing tricks Sept. 27 when he heard Braddock football coach Frank Rojas yelling his name on the sideline.

It was the final seconds of the Bulldogs' homecoming game with archrival Coral Park and 5,000 fans filled the stands.

"I was stretching and the next thing I know I heard ‘Davonte is going in,'" Pollard said.

At that point, Pollard thought it was some sort of dream. He recalled his stream of consciousness: "No. Davonte who? Nah, nah, nah, it can't be me. He's probably calling someone in the stands."

This was no dream. Pollard, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound legally blind running back, was going into a varsity football game to carry the ball against 11 fully sighted, angry Coral Park players who were trailing 35-20.

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