Nathan Music
#H8ME6ROWNTAL3NT
Fort Meade center Nathan Music said that when he saw the Miners were ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, he had only one response.
“Dern right we’re number one,” he said. “We’re gonna earn it, we’re gonna work hard for it, and by the end of the season we’re going to still be on top.”
Halfway through the 2015 season Fort Meade is undefeated and the Miner offensive line has made running back Tyler King one of the leading rushers in Polk County. The 6’1” 270lb senior center is in his fourth year as a starter for the Miners. He played as a tight end and right tackle in earlier years.
When recalling his first memory of football, Music remembers a sight most of Polk County is only beginning to become familiar with.
“It would have to be when I was about six years’ old playing flag,” he said. “My buddy Tyler King scored and all I remember is running around in a circle holding up the number one.”
That was 12 years ago, but Music’s memory of the past could very well be a vision of the future. The Miners are 6-0 and need only one game to clinch the district title. Music also said that King isn’t the only Miner that he’s known since his childhood.
“I came up with pretty much everybody on the team,” he said. “I played with them since our first couple years in flag all the way up to here. They’re like my brothers. Some of them are closer than family.”
Though he’s known most of his teammates since little league, Music said he became serious when he started playing JV football.
“No one looks at you in little league,” he said. “JV was like the game-changer, made me step it up a notch.”
Music said that he received help from 2012 Fort Meade graduate Chad Self during his time on junior varsity.
“It was the year before I started on varsity,” he said. “I was on JV and every day in practice he would help me out and show me different ways to get to the guy faster or better.”
Music has been a staple of the Miners offense since the 2012 season, and he said that his relationship has developed with his teammates as well as Fort Meade head coach Jemalle Cornelius.
“Coach Cornelius, JV and when I first started on varsity we bumped heads a lot because I had to learn my stuff,” he said. “But I went to a time in my family where things weren’t so great and he was there for me. I asked him to pray about something with me he prayed with me. Overall he’s just a great mentor.”
Writer - James Bennett, Jr.
Photographer - Titus Moye Photography
No comments:
Post a Comment