Brown turned to his left and started to loop around toward the right end zone. He split two Troy defenders at the 23 and soon hit full speed. One defender slowed Brown down at the 40 and got a piece of him, causing him to stumble, but he kept his balance and turned on the jets again — the Wayne Train come to life.
This time, no one stopped the future Ohio State Buckeye. Brown’s 82-yard punt return played a big part in Wayne’s 20-14 victory Friday in a Division I, Region II semifinal at Troy Memorial Stadium.
“Sometimes they say it’s not plays, but players, right?“ Wayne coach Roosevelt Mukes said. ”He’s a special player. I’m just glad he’s on our side.”
Brown may have caught the Troy defenders by surprise by electing to pick up the ball.
“The coaches tell us to get the ball off the first bounce,“ Brown said, ”but it kind of juked me a little bit. I was already planning on picking the ball up. I just had to see how close they were and see if I could make somebody miss early. Once I picked the ball up, there was just too much room, so I wanted to score.”
That touchdown with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first half gave Wayne a 14-7 lead. It did not trail again.
While Troy finished its season with a 9-3 record, No. 6 seed Wayne (9-4) advanced to play No. 1 seed Middletown (10-2) in the regional final on Nov. 21 at a neutral site. Middletown beat No. 5 seed Springfield 14-0.
“It’s a great matchup,” Mukes said. “(Middletown) is doing a great job. It’s a great team that’s very physical, very disciplined. They’re going to play hard. At this point in the season, we’re just blessed to be able to continue to play. So we’ll keep working. It’s a great challenge for us.”
Wayne will play in the regional final for the second straight season. It lost 24-13 to Centerville in 2024. It beat Middletown 26-20 in the first round on the way to the regional final.
Wayne will seek its first state semifinal berth since 2015.
“I just want to give honor to God because there’s just so much that this group has been through,” Mukes said. “It’s a great moment.”
Brown also scored Wayne’s first touchdown in the first quarter. He caught a short pass from Kye Graham and turned it into a 12-yard score. It was his ninth receiving touchdown of the season.
Troy tied the game at 7-7 on a 1-yard run by Aiden Kirkpatrick with 37 seconds left in the first quarter. Kirkpatrick ran for 110 yards on 25 carries.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
After the return touchdown by Brown, who also has two kickoff returns scores this season, Wayne extended its lead to 17-7 when Jayden Heinrich kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. It was not a simple kick because Wayne had to rush the field-goal team onto the field after the previous play.
“Our special teams coordinator, coach (Robert) Price, does a great job with those guys,” Mukes said, “and they were ready for it.”
Troy cut Wayne’s lead to 17-14 on a 6-yard run by Kayden Franklin with 10:18 left in fourth
Heinrich then made a 35-yard field with 4 minutes, 33 seconds remaining to push Wayne’s advantage to 20-14.
“He’s had a good season,” Mukes said. “He’s been very consistent.”
An interception by Sean Heisle helped seal the victory for Wayne with 3:20 to play.
“He’s been doing a great job just being a leader on the back end,” Mukes said, “and just growing. This whole group has just grown throughout the season.”
