Justin Hannah got his first win as head football coach of the Murphy Panthers on Thursday night at Robertsdale, but that wasn’t the most important thing about the game.
“He told me then, ‘I can score a touchdown, I can do this or that.’ I took him at his word. He challenged me to be his coach. I was honored to do that, and I wanted to grant him an opportunity to do something special since he can’t perform at the level other children can.” Regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s game, Hannah had a plan to get Dominic on the field one way or the other. He spoke with Robertsdale coach Kyle Stanford about his idea before kickoff.
Quincy Grant took a handoff up the middle, drifted to the left side of the field and handed the ball to Loftin. With his Murphy team escorting him and coaches and fans cheering him on, Dominic rumbled into the end zone.After Dominic’s score, the ball was brought back to the original line of scrimmage for the next Murphy play. No matter. Loftin had lived his dream.
For Hannah, Loftin’s touchdown was another step in his mission to bring Murphy football back to the lofty standards it once held.