When sports make a difference
Another high school football story illustrates the best of life’s lessons that kids can learn when caring adults are the teachers. This story, reported by the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, W.Va., involves two Southern Ohio high schools: Waverly and Northwest. Prior to the final game in which the two would face each other, the coaches shared a conversation. The Northwest coach Dave Frantz explained to Waverly’s coach Derek DeWitt that he had a mentally handicapped senior by the name of Jake Porter. While Porter shows up on time for every practice and game he had yet to take an official snap in a game.
Frantz told DeWitt that as long as the outcome of the game wasn’t at stake he wanted to send Porter in on the last play to take the snap and just go to his knee, without taking a hit. Game day came; Waverly was leading by a score of 42-0 with just a few seconds remaining. The coaches met during a timeout with the referees. Frantz said it was time for Porter’s special play. DeWitt said he would go him one better and let him score.
Porter at first was confused when all 21 players on the field parted for him as this wasn’t the play he had practiced. With teammates and opponents spurring him on and running alongside him, Porter ran into the end zone. There were few dry eyes in the stand.
Coach DeWitt told the Herald-Dispatch, “We didn’t do anything special. We were just happy to be a part of that. That young man was just excited to get the ball. Our guys didn’t care about the shutout, those stats went out the window. When you’re involved in a moment like that, you want to make sure you end the game with class, decency and respect.”
Years from now, the Waverly and Northwest players will still be telling their children and grandchildren the story of this game.
They owe it to people like Coach DeWitt who sacrificed a shut-out statistic for the joy of a kid and Coach Frantz who welcomed a mentally handicapped player onto his team.