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Friday, August 1, 2008
How is Matt Brown Doing?
Collin County, TX
By: Todd Wills
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Photo(s) By: Kyle Danztler/MyActionPortraits.com
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Allen QB motivated by nightmarish playoff upset
It is the question every football fan in Allen wants answered: How is quarterback Matt Brown doing?
“I’m doing OK,” Brown said. “I had a good spring and I’m having a great summer.”
The last time we saw Brown he was on the sideline watching another quarterback try to rally the 10-0 Eagles over Rowlett in a bi-district playoff game. Allen didn’t make it back that Saturday in November, losing to Rowlett, 37-32, in one of the biggest playoff upsets in recent memory.
It was especially stunning to see Brown pulled from that game, even if it had to happen. The sophomore had played like a senior all season. He passed for more than 2,000 yards and almost rushed for 1,000 yards.
But Brown will tell you he was way off that day, from the first offensive play. So was the entire Allen team for that matter. Playing in the 10 a.m. Texas Stadium playoff game known as the “Breakfast Bowl,” the Eagles played like a team that didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn. Allen, a huge favorite, fell behind 30-0 in the second quarter.
Allen’s district rivals took great joy in seeing an Eagles team that had gone undefeated in 9-5A get upset in the playoffs for a second straight season.
Brown will tell you – he and his teammates are still embarrassed.
“There’s not a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought about it,” Brown said. “I’m not hung up on it, but it a motivator for me. It was a bad day.”
Allen’s first offensive play set the tone for the entire day. Running a zone read play, Brown was going to hand the ball off, but Rowlett’s defensive end took a step toward tailback Jeremiah Williams, and the young quarterback decided to keep the ball. What ensued was probably the biggest hit Brown took all season.
He admits the jarring blow rattled him. He threw an interception on the next play.
Brown says he learned more from the Rowlett game than the other 10 regular season games combined. Allen coach Tom Westerberg talked to Brown after the game about preparation. “Maybe he relaxed a little too much,” Westerberg said.
Brown said there was too much joking around in practice that week. It usually falls on the quarterback to put a stop to funny stuff. But Brown was just sophomore, and deferred to seniors like Dan Buckner, the star receiver now at Texas.
Brown says he won’t let that happen this season.
“I have to be the leader,” Brown said. “I feel like I can tell anybody now that ‘we need to do this.’”
He knows a lot of eyes will be focused on him starting with the Zero Week game against Longview.
“I do have something to prove,” Brown said. “I understand. I let the team down. I let a lot of people down. There are people waiting to see what I can do.”
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