BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Recent Bradford High School graduate Nichelle Brown was named the top flag football player in the area by both the Gainesville Sun and the Florida Times-Union, which shouldn’t be surprising. If there was a Heisman Trophy awarded in high school flag football, she may have won that as well.
Brown, the first ever BHS athlete to be named a Times-Union All-First Coast Player of the Year, was more than just the best receiver in the area. She was tops in the entire state regardless of classification and had the most receiving yards nationally based on statistics uploaded to MaxPreps.
Bradford Head Coach John Staples, who was named the Gainesville Sun’s Coach of the Year, compared her to a dynamic player who starred for the University of Florida football team — Percy Harvin.
The Tornadoes tried to get the ball in Brown’s hands any way possible, just as the Gators tried to do with Harvin.
“It was about creating ways to get her the ball,” Staples said. “That was our offense.”
Opposing defenses knew that was Bradford’s goal, so a lot of ways had to be created to get Brown involved.
“We probably had 472 plays we would draw up each game because every team prepared to stop Nichelle,” Staples said.
Brown, who will continue her playing career for three-time national champion Florida Gateway College in Lake City, had 2,220-plus receiving yards, 44 touchdowns (receiving and rushing) and 266 points (receiving and rushing) this past season. She had approximately 800 receiving yards more than Spruce Creek rising senior Chloe Waldo and scored 24 more points than Haines City rising senior Zebrielle Canaday.
It was also Brown and Canaday in the top two spots in the state for total touchdowns, with Brown scoring five more than Canaday.
Of Brown’s 44 touchdowns, 34 came off pass receptions. That was three more than Robinson rising junior Sarah Williams.
Nationally, Brown had approximately 500 more receiving yards that Madyson Fizer, a recent graduate of Eastridge in Rochester, New York.
Brown was second in the nation in both touchdowns and points scored. Lauren Clark, a rising junior at Crossville, Tennessee’s Stone Memorial High School, had six more touchdowns and 77 more points.
The Tornado great, who also rushed for more than 560 yards this past season, scored a total of 144 touchdowns in her four years of playing at BHS and had her number-five jersey retired.
“I don’t know that 144 touchdowns will ever be scored here again,” Staples said.
As to what made her so productive on the field, Brown said it was due to “hard work and dedication.”
Staples was recognized as the Gainesville Sun’s top coach in the area after guiding the Tornadoes to a 14-3 record. The Tornadoes, who outscored opponents 460-119, won their first-ever playoff game this year and advanced to the Region 1 championship game before losing 14-0 to Florida High.
