Down 6-0 to the Eau Claire Axemen, it was 4th and 15. Quarterback Josh White was stopped short. But he knew running back Brandon Mackey was behind him somewhere. “When he threw it back, I thought the play was dead,” said Mackey. “But when I turned around they were coming towards me. So I was like, ‘I gotta make a move.’ I was like, ‘Oh, this left side is open.'”
The touchdown was a thing of beauty. KY3 sports reporter Chris Neyenhouse sent out a tweet of the play with #SCTOPTEN, and we waited. “The defensive lineman Ell [C. Teycer], he tapped me and he was like, ‘Hey Mack, you just made SportsCenter,’ Mackey said. “And I’m waking up from nap and I’m like, ‘Bro, you capin?’ He was like, ‘Look’. And it was actually me on Sportscenter. I was like, ‘This is unreal. Like I really just made SportsCenter bro.’ And I’m like, ‘God is good.'”
The 5′ 6″ Mackey, who also goes by Mack Truck or Lil’ Speedy, would go on to score all six of his team’s offensive touchdowns. He now leads the league with ten touchdowns through the first two games of the season. But it took big work to land the team’s smallest player. “It actually took a full day of reaching out to NFL agents,” said
head coach Cam Bruffett.
Then he got a call back from one of those agents. “He brought me Mackey and he said, ‘This guy should be getting drafted, but he’s 5’6″ and that’s on his scouting report,'” Bruffett said. “So that’s why he’s available to us.”
“My favorite guy is Darren Sproles,” Mackey said, referencing the former NFL running back who is the same height as him. “That’s the guy I look up to. I watch his film before every game.”
It may not look that way in the huddle, but to many he’s a giant inspiration. “I had a kid hit me up the other night,” Mackey said. “He was like, ‘Man, B-Mack I really look up to you.’ I said, ‘Of course you’re going to be overlooked. You can be short but you’ve got to have it in your heart. You’ve got to have it.'”
So just a few weeks ago the McRae, Georgia native and the former Division II standout at Kentucky Wesleyan made the move to Springfield. Now the smallest player is making the team’s biggest plays. Bruffett hopes he’ll stay a while. “Mackey, with what he’s done so far in two games, it’s going to be tough to keep him here,” Bruffett said.
But Mackey isn’t thinking about that. “I want to bring a championship here to the Ozarks,” Mackey said. “I just want to be here to build something special with this organization.”
With the front runner for MVP on their side anything is possible.
