On Friday, before the Lake Norman High School and Vance High School played each other for first place in their conference, Lake Norman head coach Jonathan Oliphant wanted to do something special for senior Sam Jordan.
Jordan, who has down syndrome has been the manager of the team since he was a freshman.
“We wanted to do something for him that he wouldn’t forget,” Oliphant said.
On Thursday night, when the junior varsity Lake Norman team and Vance faced one another, Oliphant pitched the idea of letting Jordan run for a touchdown before the two varsity teams played to Vance varsity coach Glenwood Ferebee. Ferebee agreed to the idea, and both set the plan in motion.
Before the game started, Jordan lined up Lake Norman’s backfield with the ball marked at the 50-yard line. Jordan was given the handoff and ran through the field and defenders. Vance defenders trailed Jordan and fell as the team manager ran to the endzone with ease. Once Jordan reached the end, he was greeted by players on both teams for celebration.
“It was great,” said Ferebee. “My background is in special education, and I identify with those kids and I understand how special they are. I talked to my kids and said, ‘Make sure that kid has the best moment because he’ll remember this for the rest of his life.’”
It was a heartwarming moment and action made by both teams. “You try to teach these kids to be good people and good husbands and good dads,” Oliphant said. “At some point, the Man Upstairs will judge us all, and I try to live by the Golden Rule, and I try to get these kids to do the same.”
“The world’s a crazy place right now, but I think we made his night,” stated Oliphant.
