COFFEETOWN HS SPORTS

Derrius Brooks was a Harris Country blur. That’s not just me saying it, either. Just ask the people who watched him run.

He did it regularly under the halogen lamps and stars about half an hour away from Columbus, Ga. and a kick return away from the Georgia-Alabama line.

Yes, Brooks could probably run to Auburn or Opelika and back before the opposition had the chance to get a bead on him.

Ask the coaches on the sideline opposite Harris County’s.

Hell, ask Brooks himself.

I asked for your best high school sports stories. And one of the first ones I got was about Derrius Brooks

Even with all the time I spent in and around high school football stadiums around the state of Georgia, I never made it to a Harris County game.

I covered games up and down I-75 and I-16 when I worked in Macon, Ga. at 13WMAZ-TV as a sportscaster (Straight from the Heart!)

I covered games down state route 316 and I-85 and when it just wasn’t my night up Georgia 400 and I-285.

But Columbus was never in the cards or the DMA.

That’s TV-biz lingo for ‘viewing area.’

So this ‘Your Town’ submission (you can drop yours right here, or sign up for a Coffeetown Booster Club membership and post it on The Snake Pit message board) caught my eye.

I wanted to learn more about Harris County.

And brother, did I ever.

Here’s the submission, and my reading of it (edited for time on social media, follow @GoCoffeetown literally everywhere)

I have a story about the fastest football player to ever grace Tiger stadium.

It was a humid warm night in Hamilton, GA.

Home of callaway blue bottled water and the best gas station Chinese food.

The bleachers were buzzin from parking lot cold ones and beta club chick fil a sandwiches. No need to say a blessing before digging in when dining with the chic.

The Harris County Tigers we’re losing. No surprise there, but Coach Howard had the boys buzzing.

Tighas down 20 in the first quarter and the Shaw High Raiders kicker is busier than a ugly stripper.

He made the fatal error of not kicking it out of the endzone but into the hands of DROC.

Darrius Rockhard Brooks wasn’t imposing in size but he ran like a scalded dog.

He fielded the kick flying end over end. Took a crow hop and was shot right out of a cannon.

He was gone faster than my daddy with a tax return check and didn’t slow down until he hit pay dirt.

The crowd was too shocked to cheer.

DROC went on to play for the Hilltoppers of WKU and eventually the New Orleans Saints. Pride of Harris County before Jordan Jenkins and Mr. Irrelevant Tae Crowder.

Become a Coffeetown Booster Club Member for as little or as much as you want!

Not all of these Coffeetown columns are free.

Some will be exclusive interviews, others will be fictional short stories set in the Coffeetown universe.

So join the club and kickstart a community that celebrates the wild and wonderful American institution of high school sports.

Only a few high school athletes and teams and communities have a bunch of stars by their names.

But they all have stories, like legendary Harris County player-turned Harris County coach Derrius Brooks.

Coffeetown’s where we share ’em.