Things are a lot different today than they were in 1997. Few people had cell phones. Most homes didn’t have Internet access and those who did had the cursed dial-up connection. People still used pay phones, land lines, and typewriters. Music was still bought and sold in record stores, primarily on compact discs but cassette players weren’t entirely obsolete. There was no dual enrollment, online classes, or Zoom meetings.
Yes, the world was a very different place 26 years ago.
But no matter how much things have changed, one thing has remained the same during that time period: Louis Smith has held on to Coffee High’s single-season rushing record.
Until tonight.
When Smith was a junior, he rushed for 1,287 yards — the school record and a remarkably resilient one at that. Over the last 26 years, a number of talented players have occupied the backfield. Some have broken Smith’s mark — but they didn’t do so in 10 games. Most notably, Antwain McDuffie rushed for 1,296 yards last season but it took him 13 games to do so.
No, not a single player has eclipsed Smith’s mark — not even NFL All Pro Tyreek Hill.
Until tonight.
Senior running back Fred Brown showed some promise last season, when he tallied 894 yards on 119 carries (a 7.5 yard per carry average). Between the two of them, Brown and McDuffie had 314 of Coffee’s 510 carries in 2022. So the coaching staff knew that Brown could handle a lot of the load. But could he endure week in and week out of the punishment the Trojans’ opponents would dish out?
Early in the season, Brown showed that he could shoulder the offense: 27 carries, 28 carries, 24 carries, 12 carries. And that was in just the first month of the season. As he climbed the state rankings in yards, another picture emerged: The single-season rushing record could be attainable. “After we played Salem and I was ranked pretty high in 5A, that’s when I knew I had a chance,” said Brown after Friday night’s game.
The chase for the record stayed under the radar until last week. After rushing for 166 yards against the Statesboro Blue Devils, Brown had 1,127 yards for the season. He was 160 yards short of the record and he was averaging 161 yards per game.
It wasn’t a matter of if he would break the record but when. And there was no better time than Homecoming with the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill in the stadium watching his alma mater play.
The Jenkins Warriors, Coffee’s opponent for the night, had other plans. It’s been a rough year for Jenkins. They came into the game with a 2-5 record. They knew what it meant to be on the schedule for another program’s Homecoming. They were the sacrificial lambs for the evening and they didn’t want to add insult to injury by giving up a school record in the process.
They stacked the box and refused to let Brown beat them. It worked early on. The prolific Coffee offense sputtered in the first quarter and didn’t get going until about halfway through the period. Even then, it wasn’t Brown who was leading the charge.
Senior ATH Anthony Paulk scored twice and Brady Shook scored once in the first half. Brown, however, was still putting in the work. Even though he didn’t put up any points, he still rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries — an entire game’s worth for many players.
But he was still 66 yards away from the record. Head coach Mike Coe had said he’d give Brown and the offensive line a chance to break it in the second half. But they didn’t have unlimited opportunities to do so.
“They’re in a six-man front the whole time. We practiced that quite a bit and we knew that sometimes they’re going to get you in a six-man front. And sometimes you’re going to bust wide open. You’re not going to have long sustained drives. You know you live in that six-man front, you die in that six-man front,” said Coach Coe.
As the night wore on, the Warriors’ mortality began to show. Brown gained 34 yards in the third quarter then broke what appeared to be a 20-yard touchdown. However, as he crossed the goal line, he flashed the deuces sign to a chasing defender right in front of an official, who immediately threw a flag. The penalty erased the touchdown, backed up the Trojans, and resulted in Brown leaving the game. It appeared as though his quest for the record might be in jeopardy.
A little while later, he returned to the backfield. The starting offensive line was still in the game; they had begged to be on the field when Brown broke the record. “I said, ‘I’m going to give y’all about two plays.’ And they broke it on the first one,” said Coe.
About midway through the fourth quarter, leading 34-0 with the ball on the Coffee 47, Brown broke a 38-yard run that put him over Smith’s mark by six yards and gave him 166 yards on the night. Officials stopped the game while the entire team celebrated with Brown for a minute or two. Then play resumed.
Smith was at the game and watched Brown take over the top spot in the record book. “I enjoyed it. I thought it would have been done earlier though. Tyreek Hill was here — I thought he would be the next one to do it. I had been keeping up with Fred. I’m a Trojan to the heart. I’m proud of him. I wanted somebody to do it. He runs hard. He deserves it,” said Smith after the game.
The rushing record was a nice distraction for a little while but Coffee’s work is far from over. Greenbrier comes to town next week then there’s the much-anticipated showdown with Ware County on November 3 in Waycross. It was a fun celebration but Coach Coe and his staff don’t want to get too caught up in this particular moment.
“I’m absolutely proud of them for achieving that record. That’s big time. Now let’s go shatter it,” said Coach Coe.