Growing up, Bremen’s Breyahn Townsend shied away from football because of its physicality.
When high school rolled around, though, Townsend came up with a solution.
“A lot of friends were telling me to play football,” he said. “And I was like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t like the contact. I don’t like being touched.’ When I started thinking about that deeply, it was like, ‘If you don’t like being touched, don’t let them touch you.'”
Now a senior running back/defensive back, Townsend has pretty much been untouchable this season.
He has run for 354 yards and six touchdowns on just 12 carries for the Braves (2-0), adding 123 yards on three punt returns.
Fellow senior running back Dion Debrue said Townsend has earned his success.
“It’s not even surprising,” Debrue said. “The way he puts in work off the field, he grinds every day. He just wanted it really bad. He knows how to remain humble, too.
“He doesn’t say anything about what he’s done. He doesn’t brag about it. He just keeps doing his job.”
Townsend shares carries with Debrue and junior Keshawn Lewis-Hunt to form what the Braves call their “three-headed monster” in the backfield.
That makes Townsend value every opportunity he gets.
“The more I touch the ball, the more confidence I get,” Townsend said. “I’m in love with touching the ball. We have other running backs who can do big things, and we let everyone get a chance to eat. So, I know any time I touch it, I need to show what I can do.
“When I get the ball, it’s go time.”
Bremen coach Dan Stell has been equally impressed with Townsend’s play at defensive back. Stell feels Townsend can have success in college on either side of the ball.
“He’s hands down our hardest worker,” Stell said. “He’s a great student and a great student of the game. Everything he does, he does to the extreme. He has such explosive speed, he’s gotten so much stronger and bigger this year, and he’s really seeing the benefits of the work he’s put in.”
Townsend would love a shot to play at the next level.
“I want to do it for every single person on our team and our coaches,” Townsend said. “I want to do it for my family. I want to make everyone proud. I love the game.
“I’d never found anything I was really good at before this, so I fell in love with football.”
Thunderbolt thriller: When Andrew scored a TD with 34 seconds left Friday against Oswego to cut the deficit to 28-27 but missed the ensuing two-point conversion, most likely assumed the game was over.
The Thunderbolts (1-1) had other ideas.
Andrew had all its timeouts left and Oswego tried to run for a win-sealing first down but fumbled. The Thunderbolts recovered with 24 seconds left — and 55 yards from the end zone.
Three plays later, Andrew Skarzynski hit Joey Burke for an 11-yard TD pass with 6 seconds left and the Thunderbolts had a stunning 33-28 win.
“We never stopped believing we could win the game,” Andrew coach Adam Lewandowski said. “(Skarzynski) was so poised. He was zoned in. We executed brilliantly at the end there.”
Skaryznski threw for two TDs and ran for another for Andrew, which visits district rival Sandburg (0-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Streak survives: Joliet Catholic won its 22nd straight game but it wasn’t easy.
Senior quarterback T.J. Schlageter’s 9-yard TD run with 44 seconds left lifted the host Hilltoppers (2-0) to a 23-22 victory over IC Catholic.
“I’m proud of the way we fought until the end and found a way to pull it out,” Joliet Catholic coach Jake Jaworski said. “We learned a lot in a close game like that.
“We have a lot of inexperienced guys and we’re still growing as a team, but it feels good to be 2-0.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.