Thursday, November 30, 2006
He rushed for 2,035 yards, 35 TDs and has his team in the Div. II state final.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Brandon Saine's first inkling that he was different from everyone else came when he was just 11 or 12 years old.
"Back in Little League football they had a race of all the kids," said Saine, announced Wednesday as the winner of the 2007 Associated Press Mr. Football award. "The winner of that got to race the coaches. I raced the coaches and I beat all of them."
Saine has been ahead of the pack since.
A two-time defending champion in the state Division I 100 and 400 meters -- and the state record-holder in the 100 at 10.31 seconds -- all Saine did in football this fall was rush for 2,035 yards, score 35 touchdowns and lead Piqua High School to this week's Division II state championship game.
"I tease him quite a bit about the fact that he has no flaws," Piqua coach Bill Nees said. "He makes the rest of us feel bad, the rest of us mere mortals."
Signed with Ohio State
Saine, who has signed to play at Ohio State, has a 3.6 grade-point average, says he works out daily during the winter to stay busy, actually likes his two little sisters and his favorite band is Boyz II Men.
"None of his success has changed him," Nees said. "He's the same person, the same levelheaded guy he's always been."
At 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds, Saine has the speed to turn a corner with the size of a fullback that makes him good between the tackles too. No wonder some compare him to another big sprinter-turned-tailback, Herschel Walker.
Saine also caught 19 passes for 345 yards and five scores, had 400 yards in returns and is among Piqua's leaders in special-team tackles. In other words, when he's not avoiding opposing players while returning kicks, he's flattening them when they've got the ball on kicks.
Since Piqua is making its first trip to the state finals since 2000, many people have yet to see Saine in action. Asked what he believes he's best at on the football field, Saine is at a loss for an answer.
"I play hard. I play with my heart. I go all out," he said. "I don't know, it's hard for me to talk about myself like that."
Total team player
Nobody else has a problem talking about Saine. He's left a lot of big numbers in his wake, against a lot of great teams. Yet Saine is only interested in the bottom line.
"Two weeks ago in our playoff game he only rushed for 38 yards and he only carried the ball 11 or 12 times," Nees said. "The following week he carried 27 times and rushed for 180 yards and you couldn't tell the difference with the kid, one way or the other, because he was happy that we won."
Saine becomes the 20th winner of the AP's Mr. Football award.
Other finalists for the award were Macedonia Nordonia running back Jordan Mabin, Olmsted Falls quarterback Tyler Sparks, Cincinnati Colerain defensive back Eugene Clifford, Toledo Central Catholic wide receiver/defensive back Dane Sanzenbacher, Steubenville quarterback Zach Collaros, Johnstown-Monroe running back Marcus Hendren and Galloway Westland quarterback Kasey Wendal.