FootballSaturday, November 4, 2017
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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