Sussex Tech fans ready for the start of the DFRC Kickoff Classic at Sussex Tech Thursday.
Sussex Tech senior running back Isaiah Brown stiff-arms A.I. du Pont’s Jamir Dantley during the first quarter of the DFRC Kickoff Classic at Sussex Tech Thursday.
GEORGETOWN – Isaiah Brown had been training for this moment since the day after his last football season.
He was ready.
The senior halfback unleashed 15 carries for 276 yards and seven touchdowns on Thursday night as Sussex Tech stormed to a 61-20 home victory over A.I. du Pont in a DFRC Kickoff Classic.
“We’ve been working hard. It all paid off, man,” Brown said. “The offensive line, they really worked tonight. They really got after it.”
Brown really got after it, too. He’s been getting after it for months, following the example of Sussex Tech graduate Kani Kane — a first-team All-State running back in 2014 — and Patrick Griffin, a prolific rusher for the Ravens last season.
“Isaiah as a young sophomore followed in both of those guys’ footsteps,” Sussex Tech coach Mark Quillin said. “As we go through our training in the offseason, they learned a lot from that group we had a couple of years ago.”
Deshown Sample returned the opening kickoff 93 yards before being dragged down by hustling A.I. kicker Brendan Newberry at the 4. That set up Brown’s first touchdown — a 1-yard burst three plays later — just 55 seconds into the game.
The Ravens (1-0, ranked seventh in Division I) got the ball back quickly, but A.I. defensive lineman Shannon Biles picked up a fumble and rumbled 36 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead. The home fans were stunned, but Sussex Tech wasn’t rattled.
“We kept our heads high,” Brown said. “We never let down, we never backed down. We just kept going hard.”
Sussex Tech senior running back Isaiah Brown runs the ball during the first quarter of the DFRC Kickoff Classic at Sussex Tech Thursday. Brown had six touchdown’s in the first half.
Brown capped the Ravens’ next drive with a 13-yard run. Five plays into the next series, he showed a burst of speed through the right side and went 51 yards for his third score and a 21-7 lead.
“He ran track in the winter, ran track again in the spring, and he trains throughout the year,” Quillin said of Brown. “During the summer, he never missed a day. He never missed a day in weight room.”
Brown was just getting started. He bounced off a tackler and sprinted 72 yards to paydirt, then dodged a penetrating defender in the backfield and darted 44 yards for his fifth score and a 34-7 lead with 3:31 left in the second quarter.
The Tigers (0-1) couldn’t get anything going on the ground (19 carries for minus-7 yards), but found success through the air. Sophomore quarterback Chad Jones completed 19 of 37 passes for 263 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown to Esaias Guthrie with 2:24 left in the first half.
But that left the Ravens time for another score, and Brown punched it in from the 1. Then his only carry of the second half was a 36-yard run for his seventh touchdown and a 47-14 lead with 8:55 remaining in the third quarter.
“I just followed the blocks, and I did things on my own sometimes,” Brown said.
The offensive line — led by Hunter Hardesty, Nathaniel Showacre, William Argo and Robert Van Pelt — paved the way for a Sussex Tech ground game that piled up 465 yards on 44 carries.
Junior Ja’ron Hunt-Fletcher replaced Brown and carried five times for 59 yards and two late TDs. But there was no doubt about the Ravens’ leader on this night.
“He’s not a big rah-rah guy, but man, he really inspires them with his play,” Quillin said of Brown. “I told him, ‘If you really want us to be great, you’re going to have to bring everybody up to your level.’”
It’s hard to go any higher than Brown did Thursday.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.