FootballSaturday, November 4, 2017
6
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Saturday’s game.
Jones, a senior All-American
who went on to play as a
wide
receiver
at
Indiana,
was knocked flat onto his
back. He was one of the area’s
top recruits, and Karan — a
freshman — ran him straight
over, and everybody had seen
it. It was in that moment that
everybody knew this freshman
belonged on varsity.
Karan’s
upward
trend
only continued. He carried a
4.0 GPA in high school and
dominated on the football field.
With Johnson’s guidance and
his mother’s support, he was
thriving at Riverview.
One
of
his
teammates,
though, couldn’t say the same.
“There’s always one kid in the
bunch,” Christian recounted.
This one kid was a wide
receiver on Karan’s team, and
as Christian said, “probably
could’ve gone anywhere in the
country to play
football.”
Too
many
people
got caught up
wondering
where he’d play
Division I or
what NFL team
he’d get drafted
to, and nobody
paid attention
to
what
was
really going on.
Come
time
for graduation, the receiver’s
grades had tanked and his
SAT scores weren’t sufficient.
He had to attend community
college in an effort to boost his
grades, but that year passed
him by, and eventually his
motivation waned.
“It went from, ‘I can go to any
school in the United States and
play Division I football’ to ‘Now
I go to a community college for
remediation. You know, forget
school, I’ll never see myself on
the football field again. I just
want to be a rapper,’ ” Christian
remembered
about
Karan’s
teammate.
It was an unfortunate trend,
and one Christian had seen
time and time again. Parents
got too focused on getting
kids to the next level that
they didn’t recognize when a
child struggled to barely make
minimum grades.
“It’s sad,” Christian said.
“It’s very sad to see that happen
to some of these children. They
get lost in the system.”
But Karan wasn’t one of them.
In a system that could’ve held
him down — a system where
giving into his environment
would’ve been such an easy
choice — Karan kept moving up.
“It was very apparent that
Karan
wasn’t
going
to
let
anything
get
in
the
way,”
Johnson said.
That’s because Karan just
kept plugging away. He kept
being
friendly
to
people,
making good choices and living
the life his mother was dead set
on creating for him.
He became the ambassador
for a football program that
had given so much for its
community.
And after high school, Karan
came to Michigan. Three years
later, now, he still thinks about
all those people when he runs
for 100 and 200-yard games for
the Wolverines.
He plays for his family, his
former coaches and Riverview
teammates, all of the people
that haven’t made it out of the
system
and
all
the kids back in
Sarasota
who
someday hope to
be just like him.
“I’m
running
for more than just
myself,”
Karan
says.
“It’s
more
than just me when
I play this game.”
He rushes head
on
at
tacklers
because he has a
legacy to carry. He goes back
to Sarasota and hosts football
camps, because he wants to see
those kids have the opportunity
to succeed. Karan runs so
hard, because if he hadn’t, he
wouldn’t be where he is today
— a junior at Michigan, and the
Wolverines’ leading running
back.
And Karan does it all for
his mom, because if she hadn’t
believed in him, he might not
have either. If not for football
and the support he found at
Riverview, Karan might have
been no different than those
people his mom pushed him so
hard to surpass.
“In Florida, it’s the way out,”
he said. “I just take that each
and every time I take the field,”
he said.
He
runs
harder
than
everyone else because he has
bigger goals and bigger dreams.
Karan Higdon wants to write
his own story, and so every
play, he runs a little bit harder,
because his story isn’t over yet.
HIGDON
From Page 5
It’s very sad to
see that happen
to some of these
children.
What to Watch For: Minnesota
Here we go again. For the
second time this season, the
Wolverines will be hosting a
night game at Michigan Stadium
with a trophy on the line.
The last time, as you know,
didn’t go so well for Michigan.
Amidst a torrential downpour,
fifth-year senior quarterback
John
O’Korn
threw
three
interceptions
en
route
to
Michigan State’s upset over the
Wolverines.
Then again, a lot has changed
since then. Michigan appears
to have a new quarterback in
Brandon Peters. The offensive
line issues that plagued the
Wolverines against the Spartans
appear, at least in part, to have
been solved, and Michigan’s
backfield has reaped the benefits
— coming off a performance
against Rutgers that featured
two 100-yard rushers in Ty
Isaac and Karan Higdon.
Minnesota, in its own right,
boasts a threatening run attack
with a mobile quarterback to
go with it. The Golden Gophers
have pieces in place to threaten
to reclaim the Little Brown Jug,
and did I mention there’s an
80-percent chance of rain?
Here’s what to watch for
when Michigan faces Minnesota
and its first-year head coach P.J.
Fleck:
1. Is this officially Brandon
Peters’ job?
The
redshirt
freshman
quarterback
finally
saw
legitimate
playing
time
against
Rutgers,
replacing
O’Korn midway through the
second quarter. He didn’t fail
to impress, finishing with 10
completions on 14 attempts for
124 yards and a touchdown.
After the game, Jim Harbaugh
acknowledged
that
Peters
likely
exceeded
everyone’s
expectations — including his
own. He went on to say he was
optimistic about his new man
under center, even seemingly
suggesting that this is now
Peters’ job to lose.
“Right now, I feel really good
about the way that (Peters)
played,” Harbaugh said, “and
feel good about him taking the
next step and being the starting
quarterback and having a great
week of now knowing he’s
the
starting
quarterback
in
practice.”
On
Monday,
however,
Harbaugh seemed to pump the
breaks a bit, saying he would
not name a starter and that the
Wolverines would prepare both
Peters and O’Korn. But he did
state that it was “likely” Peters
would receive his first starting
nod — placing his chances at “51
percent”.
If one thing is definitive
though, it’s that Peters will play.
Harbaugh made that much clear.
It’s just a question of if he gets
his first college start under the
lights against Minnesota.
2.
Can
Minnesota’s
run
game
best
Michigan’s
defense?
The Wolverines love to bring
the pressure, to say the least.
The only problem is that the
Golden Gophers may be able to
counteract it.
“They’re gonna run the rock,”
said defensive coordinator Don
Brown. “Their mantra you can
tell is big, strong — I think the
best offensive line we’ve played
to this point in terms of run
blocking. They’ve got multiple
running backs that can carry
the load. We’ve gotta do a great
job in controlling the run game,
and then obviously doing a good
job on third down from our
standpoint.”
In large part, as Brown alluded
to, that production rests on the
trio of Rodney Smith, Shannon
Brooks
and
Kobe
McCrary.
Brooks and McCrary boast five
touchdowns each, while Smith
appears to be the workhorse back
— turning 153 carries into an
average of 78.4 yards per game.
Minnesota averages 4.1 yards
per carry on the ground and
boasts 13 rushing touchdowns,
and it’s the first Big Ten team
Michigan has encountered with
with a top-50 rush offense.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Peters could notch his first collegiate start against Minnesota this Saturday.
KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
See WATCH FOR, Page 7