PALM BEACH GARDENS – High school football has been a roller coaster ride of sorts for Koden Brown.
The Dwyer senior quarterback is currently finding his groove after going through a series of moments that tested his resolve in more ways than one.
Last Thursday (Sept. 12), Brown helped Dwyer (1-3; 1-0 in District 12-6A) pull away from previously unbeaten Royal Palm Beach (3-1; 0-1 in 12-6A) in a 21-6 road victory. It was the first official win of the season for Brown and the Panthers.
The 6-foot, 175-pound quarterback found junior athlete Rauol Brown for the game’s first score with 4.5 seconds left in the second quarter. This set the tone for Dwyer to take a 7-0 lead into halftime and extend the lead to 21-0 en route to the eventual 15-point margin of victory.
Brown engineered two second-half scoring drives that featured a mix of short, intermediate, and long pass completions, along with several runs that resulted in first downs.
You can see the action right below for yourself.
With no college scholarship offers at this time, Brown will be poised to give out his best effort for the next six games of his final high school football season as a player.
Brown will use his past experience as fuel to take his game to the next level. What began last week against Royal Palm Beach is poised to continue tonight (Sept. 19; 6:30 p.m. kickoff) in Week 5 action at home against a resurgent Glades Central (4-0).
“The main thing I have learned from my experience at Dwyer to is keep your head up no matter what and don’t let things affect you,” Brown said.
Brown chose to share his full journey in his own way. Here are his words right below.
“My high school experience has been good, but has had a lot of ups and downs,” Brown said. “When I got to Dwyer for my freshman year, I was the backup JV quarterback for the first two games and then started the rest of the year. I played really good and the varsity coach at the time [McKinley] Rolle told me to pick up weight and I’ll be on varsity. I worked super hard all summer and got bigger and stronger, but Coach Rolle was no longer the coach. This didn’t stop me though. I kept working and made varsity as a sophomore.”
Brown continued with the challenging times that molded him into a better version of himself.
“I started as the third string and finally got my chance the third game of the year,” Brown said of his sophomore year at Dwyer. “Since then on, I was the backup and even started two games out of eight games I played in. I helped us make the playoffs (7-3 regular season record; 7-4 final record in 2022). After the season I had all the hype from the coaches and was ready to be the starter my junior year.”
Brown went into what transpired last season at Dwyer.
“Junior year started and I got benched the first game of the year after one and a half quarters,”Brown said. “This killed my confidence and affected me the whole year. After the third game, our offensive coordinator stop coaching and we had to put in a whole new offense. This was hard, but it eventually worked out. I started a lot more games after that, but wasn’t playing how I knew I could.”
Brown’s turning point started in Week 10 of this past season against Seminole Ridge, which resulted in a 34-14 home win.
“I just let loose and played how I knew I could play, and I had five touchdowns,” Brown said. “I used that momentum and played great the next week and had two more touchdowns. This gave me confidence going into my senior year.”
This past offseason was one filled with change at the top. Out at head coach was Alfred Shipman (11-10 final record after two season), and in was Willie Smith (Dwyer alum) at the helm for his head coaching debut.
Brown spoke on the move and everything else that has transpired this year.
“Over the summer I worked so hard and wanted this to be my best year ever,” Brown said. “We got a new coach with Coach Smith, and I was super excited and confident going into my senior year.”
Brown on Dwyer’s quest to completely overcome its 0-3 start:
“This year has started out slow, but we just switched offensive coordinators and we look better already,” Brown said. “I’m excited to see what we can do the rest of the year with our new offense, and hopefully we can make a push for the playoffs.”
PHOTO CREDITS: Alex Muniz / Eye Don’t Speak
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