Sugarcreek Garaway senior Craig Gordon scored his second touchdown of the season on a 65-yard run.

Special Teams, Special Community

Sugarcreek Garaway senior Craig Gordon did not let Down Syndrome stop him

November 23, 2008

It is often called the greatest weekend in high school football. This Friday and Saturday, more than 60,000 fans will descend once again on the northeast Ohio cities of Massillon and Canton for six state championship games.

Many say it is what high school football is all about.

But ask the folks in Sugarcreek, a quiet town in the middle of Amish country 25 miles south of that famous birthplace of professional football, and they will tell you high school football is all about Sugarcreek’s favorite son, their 5-feet, 5-inch, 185-pound senior running back. He wore number 27 and his name is Craig Gordon.

Since his first day of seventh grade six years ago, Craig has not missed a game, a scrimmage, a practice, a meeting or even a weightlifting session for the Garaway High School Pirates.

Each time he ran onto the field this past season, hundreds of Pirates fans chanted “Craiger … Craiger!”

Craig has the admiration and respect of each of his teammates, coaches and community members.

Craig also has Down Syndrome.

How could it be, then, that this young man scored not one, but two touchdowns last season as a member of the Pirates’ varsity football team? It is a story that could only come from a devoted family, a caring community and football team and two miraculous acts of sportsmanship.

Family First

Craig was about two months old when he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that impairs comprehension ability and physical growth. But that was not about to stop parents Debbie and Rodney and older siblings Andrew and Samantha from making Craig a vital part of the family.

“The doctor told us to love him like any other kid and treat him like any other kid, and that’s what we have done,” Rodney said. “And our two older kids have never treated him in a way other than their little brother.”

A 2002 Garaway graduate, Andrew played football, basketball and baseball for the Pirates. Samantha, a 2005 graduate, played volleyball and ran track.

“Ever since Andrew began playing sports in junior high, Craig tagged along and was always there,” Rodney said.

That led to Andrew’s friends including Craig in everything they did and always looking out for him.

“Craig is very outgoing and has that personality,” Debbie said. “People just take to Craig.”

Craig has participated in basketball and track with Special Olympics. He has qualified for the state track meet every year. Perhaps it is his way of trying to be like his big brother.

“I think Craig got his dedication from Andrew,” Rodney said. “Andrew was very dedicated to football and Craig thinks Andrew can walk on water.”

Little did they know that Craig was about to do something perhaps even greater.

A Student of the Game

“I first got to know Craig when he started seventh grade,” said Jason Wallick, Garaway’s head football coach. “That’s when it was brought to my attention that we wanted to get him involved with the football program. His older brother was a senior on the team the year before and his mom and dad thought it would be good to get Craig involved.”

Andrew was an offensive guard for the Pirates. A year after he graduated, the Pirates had another Gordon on their sideline with Craig. He became the team manager.

“We knew it was going to be a lot of responsibility taking Craig on,” Wallick said. “The first year was obviously a learning experience, but Craig would do anything you asked him to do. He was always so excited to be around the guys and to be a part of the football program.”

Craig’s enthusiasm to be a part of Garaway football was evident, but it also gave his parents reason to be nervous.

“We were a little concerned at first,” Debbie remembered. “We didn’t know if he was mature enough to be on the sideline during a game, and there was the safety issue.”

“We were worried a little at first, too,” Wallick said. “Glenn Huffman, our assistant coach who also handles equipment, has been great for Craig. He has almost served like his mentor these last six years. And what we quickly discovered is that Craig understands the game of football.”

Early in Craig’s second season, the Pirates traveled to Claymont for their first scrimmage. After pre-game warm-ups, the team returned to the locker room.

“And there was Craig standing at the chalk board,” Wallick said. “He had drawn 11 circles for the offense and he drew up the defense on the opposite side. He even had Ts for the tackles and Es for the ends. They were all out of place, but he knew how to do all that from watching us.”

Debbie smiled and nodded.

“Craig picks up everything,” she said.

“So everyone had to watch what we did,” Wallick said. “But it has been a joy to have him be a part of our program. When we went away for a week of two-a-days last August, the seniors asked that Craig be in the senior dorm. He is accepted by everyone.”

That does not stop when Craig leaves the football field.

“Craig is a very special young man,” said Teresa Alberts, the principal at Garaway High School. “When Craig walks down the hallway, so many kids are saying hi and talking to him. Everyone loves Craig.”

Suiting Up

Craig told his parents from the beginning that he was going to play football for the Pirates his senior season.

“We talk all the time about your senior year being special,” Wallick said. “Craig is always listening and knew what that meant. Last year, Craig began saying, ‘I senior. I play. I play.’”

And Craig did not stop saying it. Craig’s family and the Garaway coaches met before the season and decided to let Craig dress in uniform for Friday night games.

“We were just happy he could dress,” Debbie said. “We never thought he would actually get into any games. Then when he put his helmet on over at Fawcett Stadium, I about fell off the bleachers.”

That occasion at Fawcett Stadium came at the end of Garaway’s second game, a win over Canton Timken High School. Wallick sent Craig onto the field to line up in the Pirates’ victory formation, in which the quarterback takes the snap and touches his knee to the ground to run out the clock.

“That was a very special moment,” Wallick said. “It just came to me to try to get Craig in the game. I asked him if he wanted to go in, and he said ‘Yeah, yeah.’ We hadn’t even rehearsed it in practice, but I called over one of our seniors, Devin Schie, and told him to have Craig stand right beside him.”

Craig had joined his teammates in the huddle before, just not in a real game.

“There were many times in practice when we would call Craig in the huddle and line up with him the backfield,” Wallick said. “We would give him the ball, and guys would run up to him and fall down, just playing, and he loved it. He would run into the end zone and throw the ball into the air.”

There would be no end zone celebration this time, but an even greater salute came from the Pirates fans, who chanted Craig’s name when he ran onto the field.

“Yeah,” Craig said, straight-faced, when asked if he heard the crowd.

Then he smiled.

“I was excited.”

From then on, Wallick talked with the officials and opposing coaches about Craig before every game and explained the situation. “In case Craig did a fist pump or something like that, I wanted them to know why,” he said.

But not even Wallick knew Craig was about to score a touchdown.

The First Touchdown

A Garaway week-four win over Sandy Valley High School was all but over. The Pirates led 49-7 and Craig was on the field in the victory formation.

Then, John Groff, the head coach at Sandy Valley, called a timeout.

“I thought ‘what in the world is going on?’” Wallick said. “We were just trying to run out the clock and get it over with.”

During the timeout, Groff met with the officials. He instructed them to tell the Garaway offense to give the ball to Craig and the Sandy Valley defense would allow him to score a touchdown.

“The next thing I know, I see David take the snap and hand the ball to Craig,” Wallick said. “And there Craig went, running for the end zone.”

It was recorded in the statistics as a 30-yard touchdown run by Craig Gordon. His teammates, along with the Sandy Valley players, cheered him as he ran across the goal line.

“I had read an article about a similar situation about a year ago,” Groff said. “And after Craig got into the game and Garaway took a knee on the first play, I looked at my assistants and said this is the time to do it. So I called timeout and told our guys and the officials to let him score. It was the right place and the right time.”

“He told me, ‘run fast,’” Craig said of the instructions from quarterback David Gerber. “So I run fast and big smoke.”

‘Big smoke’ was Craig’s way of saying, “I smoked them,” and big smoke became his nickname for the rest of the season.

“There was a lot of emotion on the field at that point,” said Justin Stein, a senior captain. “We were in shock at first when the referee told us to do it, but when he got in the end zone, we were all so happy for him. It was very emotional for us seniors. We’ve been with him since seventh grade.”

“The whole Sandy Valley team shook Craig’s hand, which I thought was very nice,” Rodney said.

“We were in shock,” Debbie said. “We saw him run onto the field and assumed it was for the victory formation like the other times.”

For Coach Groff, as satisfying as it was to see Craig score a touchdown was the emotion he felt when he watched his own players congratulate Craig.

“The biggest thing I was proud about was after he scored, my kids walked into the end zone and congratulated him,” Groff said. “It was just one of those moments and it meant so much to me. You can tell the respect Craig has in the community and with the other kids. Sometimes a kid like that in a school would fall through the cracks, but not at Sugarcreek. Craig rose up.”

And it would not be the last time Craig got into the end zone.

The Second Touchdown

Even before the season, Wallick and Strasburg High School head coach Jimm Morris had talked about a way to do something special for two of their players, including Craig and Billy Anderson, a senior special needs student at Strasburg.

Despite being archrivals, their week-10 meeting at Strasburg started in extraordinary fashion. It naturally would begin with both teams tied, but the score was not 0-0.

“We both agreed to kickoff out of bounds to give the other team the ball on the 35-yard line,” Wallick said.

That was the easy part. The next step was to make sure Craig would be able to run the 65 yards to the end zone.

“We practiced it,” Wallick said. “We called it ‘Heavy Gordon.’ It was funny because in practice, we said we better back it up to make sure Craig could run that far.”

Craig said he wasn’t nervous and that he knew to get the ball and run fast. “The other team came over and said ‘good job, good game,’” he said.

Both schools’ fans stood and cheered for both boys.

“We had them run in the two-point conversions, too,” Wallick said. “I got to thinking, what if either team misses the extra point. Then what do we do?”

The game began 8-8. And Craig and Billy will never forget it.

A Special Community

“The school and the kids have been unbelievable with Craig,” Rodney said. “When Craig was young and we would go to Andrew’s basketball games, his friends would come over and ask if Craig could sit with them. We could go to any game and kids would come up and talk to Craig. I think 90-percent of the town knows him. That’s probably part of what makes Craig so attached to Garaway.”

“People love Craig,” Wallick said. “But Craig also loves people. Craig has always held and played with my three kids. Even more special than him scoring those touchdowns is the way Craig has been accepted, especially by his class.”

That acceptance is now being taught to younger classes at Garaway. Stein and Gerber, both senior captains, recently spoke to the entire seventh grade about accepting students with disabilities. They spoke about Craig.

“We just talked about how everyone should be treated with respect and that if you have good morals in school, that will carry on in life,” Stein said. “We also talked about how some people need more help than others.”

“To have two senior football players come to your class and speak to you – that’s something those kids will remember,” Wallick said. “Those are the things that make me feel good as a coach. The touchdowns were emotional moments, but just to see the way our kids have accepted Craig is what it’s all about.”

Craig will graduate in the spring and has set his goals high. He wants to coach alongside Wallick.

“I’m very thankful for the life lessons that have been taught to our whole football community through Craig,” Wallick said. “I’m very thankful for the kids we have in our program, who have accepted him. It’s a very special group and a special and unique community.”

It is a community that has treated Craig differently than what his parents were prepared for.

“When Craig was born, we were told that people would make fun of him and shy away from him,” Rodney said. “But we have never encountered that at the school or in the community. Everybody has accepted him just how he is and they all love him.”

“Craig has taught us all a lot,” Stein said. “He has taught us to never take anything for granted. And he has taught us that are a lot more important things than the game of football.”

“I’m just proud to be here,” Alberts said. “The whole community is behind Craig and the sports programs here. We have a pretty good following and just to hear the crowd yelling, ‘Craiger, Craiger’ when he gets in the game is special. To see him running up and down the sideline with his helmet in the air is a great feeling.”

Considering how the Garaway football program is led, perhaps it is no surprise that Craig became a star.

“Coach Wallick builds character in the guys,” Rodney said. “Every football player is taught to respect other players, parents, everybody. That’ll carry many years down the road versus winning a football game.”

Turn on a television and put in a DVD of Craig’s two touchdowns, and one thing is obvious. Craig Gordon has already won. 

Craig Gordon (first row, right) was given the chance to score two touchdowns this season. He, along with Strasburg senior Billy Anderson (first row, left) both scored touchdowns to begin their final game. The coaches who made it happen are, left to right, Jimm Morris of Strasburg, Jason Wallick of Garaway and John Groff of Sandy Valley.

Craig Gordon, right, in Garaway's victory formation against Tuscarawas Valley.

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By Tim Stried, contact: tstried@ohsaa.org