IT'S DOUBTFUL Shakur Nesmith will ever forget his first play as a senior high school football player.
Mostly because it was great. But also 'cause it was late.
The 6-5, 195-pound Nesmith, who committed to Temple in mid-June, is a wide receiver. It's kind of hard to catch a ball, however, when you're relegated to spectator status.
For failing to resolve a paperwork issue in a timely fashion, Nesmith was inactive Friday for the first half of Imhotep Charter's non-league opener at Central.
"I was trying not to show anyone, the players or coaches, that I was mad about having to watch," Nesmith said. "So I clapped it up for my teammates and kept a smile on my face."
Many megawatts were added at halftime.
"I told him we were going to him on the first play," coach Marc Wilson said.
"That had me excited," Nesmith said. "I wanted to make it special."
Bingo.
Following Dajuan Mack's 11-yard kickoff return, Imhotep, in possession of a 12-6 lead, took over at its 40. As the Panthers approached the ball, with Nesmith split wide toward the visiting sideline, one of the coaches purred, "Oh, my. Look at this."
Reason: The defender on Nesmith was all of 5 foot, 6 inches.
"I liked seeing that," Nesmith noted. "I usually do have an advantage on the defensive backs trying to cover me. I'm taller than all the corners. And I'm more athletic than mostly everybody."
On the docket was a play-action fade. Nesmith easily beat the cornerback, gathered in Andre Dreuitt's pass, for some reason slowed in the vicinity of Central's 10, then used fancy footwork to shake-bake two Lancers and frolic into the end zone.
A conversion run by soph Sloane Thomas (nine carries, 53 yards, two TDs) extended the Panthers' lead to a comfortable 20-6 and the final wound up being 28-12.
"I wanted to score so bad," Nesmith said. "I thought I might get caught, but I wanted to score so bad. First time that [first-touch TD] ever happened. That was really exciting."
Nesmith wound up with just that one catch, but Wilson didn't mind in the least. The next series also produced a touchdown - a 1-yard bull job by grunt-momentarily-turned-fullback Eric Richardson, wearing No. 56 - in part because the field suddenly looked a lot more spacious.
"I want people to know what a threat Shakur is," Wilson said. "That's why I did that right away. We can go to him at any time. Teams have to be ready for him. If they are, that'll help us with other stuff. If not, you saw what he can do."
