Brainerd’s Calloway earns TFP player of the week honors
Brainerd senior Derrion Calloway never lost belief that a huge comeback against Region 3-3A foe Central was possible.
The 5-foot-6, 160-pound speedster put that belief into action as he helped the Panthers rally from a 20-point second-half deficit to claim a 22-20 win.
With heavy fog hovering over Brainerd’s field, Calloway jump-started the comeback in the third quarter with a 49-yard touchdown run in which he bounced off three tacklers up the middle. The Brainerd track star — who runs an 11.0 in the 100-meter dash — finished the night by juking, then speeding past defenders for his third score of the night. Emanuel Crumsey followed by adding the game-winning 2-point conversion.
On a memorable Senior Night, Calloway finished with 10 carries for 132 yards and three TDs to go with a 2-point conversion rush. He also forced a fumble on defense, had a pair of pass breakups and two of Brainerd’s three interceptions, which came on a leaping grab in the back of the end zone to both stop a Purple Pounders scoring threat and also set up his own team’s 80-yard game-winning drive.
For that effort, Calloway is this week’s Times Free Press player of the week.
“He came up to me before halftime and was like, ‘Are you ready? Because we are going to win this game coach.’,” Brainerd head coach and former NFL player Sammy Seamster said. “For him to go out there and be the one to give us that spark was really incredible to watch. It was a must win region game for us and it gave all of our guys confidence going into a big game this weekend against Howard.”
Calloway did not play football his freshman or sophomore year, but has proven to be an X-factor the last two seasons on both sides of the ball, including seven total interceptions during that time. He has five touchdowns and three interceptions this season.
“I always knew I could do it,” Calloway said. “My teammates and coaches believed in me and put their trust in me with the ball in my hands. We never got discouraged and really executed in key moments and rolled with the momentum.
“My speed has always been there and my track coach (Donelle Dunning) has really helped me get that much faster. I gained 10 pounds of muscle alone this offseason and that has helped with my quick burst.”
Brainerd (2-5, 1-2 in the region) kept its playoff hopes alive with Calloway’s heroic performance.
The Panthers will look to build off the big win as they host rival Howard (1-6) Saturday at 2 p.m. in a rescheduled nonregion matchup that was originally supposed to be both team’s season opener.
“Derrion is so low to the ground that it’s hard to tackle him. And once he gets that burst of speed going, it is over with,” Seamster said. “He continues to work extremely hard and was even battling a hand injury this past week. The guys really rallied around him even though he is not a real rah-rah or outspoken guy on our team. But he has the heart and ability to make huge gamechanging plays at any moment.”