ATLANTA–Buford High's Derrian Brown was born in this century, a good four or five years before TV's Married With Children went off the air in 1997 (11-season run).
So, in that vein, the senior tailback might not understand the significance of being associated with the iconic Al Bundy in the following manner:
Both men know the feeling of scoring four touchdowns in one game.
On Friday night, Day 2 of the Corky Kell Classic, Brown was the absolute difference-maker in his team's 40-14 rout of Tucker at Georgia State Stadium. In addition to finding the end zone four times (three rushing, one receiving), Brown accounted for 181 total yards (142 rushing) on just 24 touches.
In fact, if Buford hadn't called off the proverbial dogs early in the fourth quarter, Brown might have been a viable candidate for 250 yards or maybe five touchdowns.
However, that kind of output wasn't needed on this night, with the Wolves being in complete control of this 60-years-in-the-making matchup (apparently, the two schools hadn't met on the same field since the mid-1950s).
Extraneous numbers also weren't necessary, in terms of impressing college recruiters.
When perusing Brown's Rivals page, the interested parties already include a veritable Who's Who of Power 5 programs, top-notch schools like Alabama, Florida State, Texas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame, among others.
Of course, after a scoreless first quarter on both sides, it might have been unwise to project such greatness on Brown's behalf. Perhaps mirroring the actions of a late-arriving crowd, both offenses struggled to find a rhythm early in the game.
However, Brown was happy to get the ball rolling, registering a ho-hum 4-yard rushing touchdown for the first score of the evening.
Following a 76-yard scoring run from Tucker's Tyler Hughley, Brown answered the bell with two more scores–the first coming on a simple 1-yard TD carry and the latter coming off a 32-yard touchdown reception.
For that play, quarterback Aaron McLaughlin dropped back in the pocket, attempting to look off defenders to the left side.
Even within that plan, McLaughlin (154 yards passing, 2 TDs) might have been shocked to see Brown running down the right sidelinej, with no defenders in sight. The tailback then made a twisting-turning catch and breezed into the end zone.
A blowout seemed inevitable at this time, even after Tucker wideout Isaiah Dunson broke free from busted coverage to post a 69-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter, momentarily cutting Buford's lead to seven points (21-14).
The rationale for such optimism: Tucker simply had no answer for Brown. His fourth score required a simple juke, then sprint to reach the goal line; and it subsequently softened up the Tigers defense, to the tune of McLaughlin hitting Austin Turner for a 73-yard touchdown just a few minutes later, expanding Buford's lead to 35-14.
(The Wolves would tack on a field goal and safety in the fourth quarter.)
All told, Buford (1-0) accounted for 24 first downs, 40 points and 399 total yards; and if you take away Tucker's two long touchdown plays (76, 69 yards), the Tigers (0-1) struggled to collect 130 total yards for long stretches of play.
