Published: August 27, 2008 09:54 pm         

Taking charge: South’s Brown, North’s Willis lead their teams in different ways

TERRE HAUTE — They did it in different ways, but seniors Frank Willis of Terre Haute North and Elias Brown of Terre Haute South showed their leadership last weekend as Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South opened their respective high school football seasons.

Now they’ll need to do that again on Friday at Memorial Stadium, when they’ll be on opposite sides — each potentially defending the other, if circumstances work out that way — when the Patriots and Braves meet at 7 p.m. for the Victory Bell.

Willis, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver, turned a short pass into a 69-yard touchdown play to bring North from behind into a 14-10 lead in the second quarter last week at Castle, but that wasn’t his best aspect of leadership. That came after halftime — and after the game-ending injury to quarterback Chris O’Leary — when Willis came out of the lockerroom a man possessed and exhorted his teammates on.

“Our morale kind of got hurt, with the quarterback down,” he recalled earlier this week. “I took the authority like a quarterback would to get everybody hyped up.

“We needed to focus on the game, not Chris being out. We definitely could have won that game.”

Although the Patriots lost 34-21, they did rally to take a third-quarter lead, and their play in the face of adversity was one of the positive things coach Chris Barrett took from that game.

“He’s a leader in every sense of the word,” Barrett said of Willis.

Brown, a 5-11, 161-pound defensive back, showed his leadership more quietly. After the Braves fell into a 21-0 hole at Bloomington South, he returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown that enlivened the South sideline again. Although the Braves lost 42-21, the game was an even one the rest of the way.

“The first quarter, we didn’t come out too strong,” Brown said in looking back to that game. “After that return, we starting picking it up.

“We were in the game [after that], we just couldn’t pull it off.”

Coach Mark Raetz of the Braves would love to see Brown be more vocally inspiring to his teammates — “He needs to be more [vocal],” the coach said — but has no problem with what Brown brings to the game as a playmaker.

“He’s a very talented player,” Raetz said. “He has quickness, and his feet are as good as anybody’s.

“He’s made big plays the last two years — four interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, last year — and Friday he had the kickoff return and was very solid at [cornerback defensively].”

Barrett also appreciates Willis’s talents, he said this week.

“He had a couple of great catches and he blocked well on the perimeter [at Castle],” Barrett said. “He’s a big guy who can run well … he could play a lot of different spots [he’s the backup safety for the Patriots, and now may also become the backup quarterback]. He’s a very versatile athlete.”

Both players said this week they are conscious of providing positive examples for younger teammates.

“[The seniors] are basically like coaches,” Brown said. “We have a young team, so we seniors have to develop [the younger Braves] into better players all-around. They look up to us.

“When we go to one-on-one [drills], I try to pick one of the younger [defensive backs] and teach them the proper stance, try to help them out.”

Willis was elected one of the Patriot captains by his teammates, and said this week, “It’s a great honor. I love my teammates, and I like to use my knowledge from four years [in the program] to help the younger ones fit in.”

“Frank is an unbelievable young man,” Barrett said. “He’s very humble, he puts the team first, he’s worked extremely hard in the weightroom … he does a lot of little things he doesn’t have to do.”

“Policing our program,” is how Willis puts it.

Willis got some additional confidence for this season from the spring track season. He’d never competed in shot put or discus before, but wound up as sectional champion in discus.

“Obviously, big John [Barrett, North assistant football coach and throwers coach for the track team] inspired me,” Willis said with a smile this week. “He said, ‘You’re doing this.’

“It really did help me, confidence-wise. It showed me if you try your best, anything can happen.”

Now the two will help decide the city’s most important game of the regular season, Brown potentially covering Willis at times — but Willis, should he be called on to play defense, potentially doing the same to Brown. Brown will be getting offensive snaps too, Raetz said.

“We’re trying to use his speed on offense,” the South coach said. “I hope we can figure out ways to get the ball in his hands more than we have.”

The players themselves are more than ready for this game.

“It starts today,” Willis said on Monday. “We have to go out and practice hard, be fired up … and I have to run hard, go hard, catch good and lead by example.

“Once we fix some of the little mistakes we had [at Castle] and come together, we could be a real competitive team.”

“We’ve got to stay focused,” said Brown. “If something bad happens, we can’t down ourselves [but] just play through it.

“We’re young, but we should have a better season [than last year] … my goal is to keep the Bell, have a good season and help the younger guys