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Three's Company: Trio of varsity newcomers headline Plano RB attack
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
For the Plano Senior football faithful, seniors Braylan Campbell, Andre Morman and freshman Brandon Stephens may just as well come out of nowhere.
Only Morman logged any time on the Wildcats' JV squad last year. At that same time, Campbell was in the midst of taking a year off from football and Stephens was proving his worth at the eighth-grade level with Wilson Middle School.
One year later, all three figure to be prominent pieces in the Wildcats' running attack.
While being the most tenured rusher of the Plano running core this year, Morman's experience edge is limited after playing just four games on JV during his junior year due to grades and ineligibility. Even then, Morman's duties were limited to special teams work with the occasional rushing attempt or two mixed in -- the highlight of which came in a touchdown on a kickoff return against Hebron that still exists on YouTube.
As expected, limited exposure as a junior had Morman skeptical about his prospects of moving up as a senior.
"I was kind of worried about being able to step up, but I just wanted to try and do better than last year," he said. "With everything that's been going on with our team this year and how we've been doing, it's really helped."
Morman said the experience helped refocus him from an academic and maturity standpoint, having to work his way back up the depth chart.
It's a similar circumstance for Morman's running mate in the backfield, although Campbell didn't have the years in the Wildcats' system at his leisure.
Campbell's slate, while clean, was still unproven after last being seen as a member of the Plano East JV squad as a sophomore. Campbell would spend his junior year away from the gridiron before rekindling his affection for football.
"I always loved the game," Campbell said, "and being away from it that year, I think that made me love it even more."
Moving a few miles west slotted Campbell into the Central cluster, where he had to embrace a new culture and new teammates.
"It was interesting at first, but they make you feel like family here," Campbell said. "I really like how they've been developing me and how my coaches have been coaching me."
Getting integrated into the Plano system paid dividends early on for Campbell, who made notable contributions in the annual Maroon-White Game and was a member of the Wildcats' Division I 7-on-7 State Championship team over the summer.
"That was the first tournament that I had ever won in anything," Campbell said. "It was a great experience and it felt good to be with my teammates when we were all on top of our game like that."
As for Stephens, the lone freshman on the Wildcats is still just getting his feet wet.
Last carving out a foothold at Wilson, Stephens is enjoying a bit of a baptism by fire in his first few weeks at the varsity level, with his elders showing him the ropes when need be.
"[Morman and Campbell] help me out a lot," Stephens said. "There are some plays where I get confused and have to step back and see them run it."
All three bring their own stylistic elements to the table as well, with Campbell as perhaps the most adept at pass-catching while Morman is more reliant on his speed and Stephens his physicality.
"I'm more of an aggressive runner," Morman said. "I don't do much juking, I don't really like stiff-arming people, I just try to avoid them or go through them."
"I try not to let one person get me down," Stephens added. "I want two or three to have to tackle me. I'm just running hard every play."
Thus far, each has had their respective chances to shine in the Wildcats' offense. Campbell led the charge with 54 yards on 12 carries in the season opener against Lewisville, while Stephens sprinkled in 38 yards on just three carries. Morman took the reins one week later against Irving MacArthur, breaking loose for 166 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, while Campbell added 39 yards on seven touches.
"It was insanely fun," Morman said. "It was a great night for our team and they really helped me out a lot. The coaches were really proud of me and it all came together for us."
Both games resulted in wins for an offense that has run the ball 79 percent of the time -- meaning that for three varsity newcomers, the chances to earn their keep with the Wildcats will keep coming.
"It feels good," Morman said. "We just need to work hard on getting better and doing whatever we can to help the team, whether it's blocking, catching or running the ball."
Plano is off this week and returns to the field at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 on the road against Garland Naaman Forest.
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