Columbus Valley - In The Game High School Sports Magazine

Duncan Fletcher and Drew McCluskey Brookstone School Columbus, Georgia by Robert Preston Jr. photography by Jerry Christenson

Plenty of football teams around the state would love to win seven games in a season. Most of the time, a seven-win season all but guarantees a playoff berth, but there are exceptions to every rule. Last year, the Brookstone Cougars were the exception to the seven-win rule. Playing in Region 4A, every game on the Cougars schedule is a region contest - losing three games can prematurely end a season. That is exactly what happened to the 2010 Brookstone Cougars. To make matters worse, Brookstone lost its three games by 13 total points, which made the season even more painful. The outcome of the 2010 football season stung everyone, and the returning Cougars vowed that 2011 would be different. Two important pieces of the Cougars football puzzle returned for the 2011 season, and both - junior quarterback Duncan Fletcher and senior running back Drew McCluskey - are determined to lead the Cougars to the playoffs.

Fletcher moved to Columbus from Camden County when he was nine years old. He started playing football at six years old, and he has played every season except for his eighth-grade year. When he entered the ninth grade at Brookstone, the Cougars had two quarterbacks on the depth chart: Fletcher and a senior. Fletcher knew he would sit his freshman year, but the job would be his in his sophomore season. Heading into tenth grade, Fletcher worked one on one with head coach Blair Harrison to hone his skills as a quarterback. The Cougars don’t run a very complicated scheme - they rely on the tried-and-true Wing-T attack - and in that offense, the quarterback isn’t asked to do too much. But that does not mean that the signal caller has an easy job. “I don’t throw a lot, so I have to make good throws when I get the chance. My goals are to be accurate when I pass, make clean handoffs, don’t throw any interceptions and lead the offense,” Fletcher says.

After last year’s disappointing outcome, Fletcher knew he needed to make some improvements in his game. “We were 13 points away from being undefeated last year and didn’t even make the playoffs. I took a lot of that responsibility. At the end of some of those games, I could have converted better. It motivated me to work harder. It motivated all of us to work harder,” he says.

Fletcher has done a very good job of helping the Cougars turn things around. Brookstone was 7-2 and playing very well when Fletcher spoke with In the Game. Fletcher was 34-for-69 with 871 yards passing, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. The day before Fletcher talked with In the Game, he had passed for 116 yards in a 49-7 win over Pacelli. “I think I’m more composed and confident than I was last year. I see things better during the games and I make better reads,” says Fletcher.

Brookstone’s losses came against Central-Talbotton, 34-40, on October 7, a game Fletcher missed with a concussion, and 20-30 against Marion County on October 28. In addition to playing quarterback, Fletcher is also the Cougars safety. He suffered a concussion making a tackle and had to sit out against Central. “I came up to make the hit and got a concussion. I made the tackle, though,” he laughs.

Fletcher was extremely happy when he learned that he would be playing safety this year. Quarterbacks do not have much opportunity to be aggressive when it comes to contact. They are told to slide or get out of bounds to keep from getting hit. And if they are involved in a collision, they often get the worst of it. On defense, the tables are turned, and that’s fine with Fletcher. “I grew up hitting and tackling. I get to be physical at safety,” he says. Though he enjoys playing both ways, preparing for games is more difficult. Not only does he have to know all the offensive plays, he also has to know his defensive assignments. Fletcher has found that playing quarterback helps him when it comes to playing safety, and playing safety helps when he’s under center. “It helps me understand my reads and route combinations, and where I can be aggressive. I love playing safety,” he says. At this writing, Fletcher didn’t have any interceptions but he had made over 40 tackles and recovered one fumble.

As much as he loves playing defense, Fletcher’s biggest contribution to the team comes at quarterback. In the Cougars’ second game of the season, which came against Dooly County, the team trailed 20-6 late in the game. They scored two touchdowns to get the score to 19-20. The Brookstone coaching staff had to make a big decision after the second touchdown: do they kick the extra point and to overtime or go for two and the win? They opted to go for two, a decision that nearly ended in disaster.

The play was a double dive, and Fletcher had the option of giving the ball to either the running back or the fullback based on what the defense showed. The pre-snap read indicated the fullback should get the ball. However, the fullback was taken out before he could get the ball. So Fletcher went to plan B, running back Madison McCluskey, Drew’s cousin. But McCluskey wasn’t there; he had moved past Fletcher and was unable to get the ball. The only thing Fletcher could do was keep the ball and hope for the best. As it turned out, he scampered into the end zone and Brookstone won, 21-20.

That game is Drew McClukskey’s favorite. “We were outsized and outnumbered. They had us at every position, and we were playing there. But we came back and won in the second half,” he recalls. “I was blocking on the two-point conversion. I had a good block on that play.” McCluskey was also responsible for the first two Brookstone scores of the game. He completed a long pass to his cousin on a halfback pass and then scored on a throw from Fletcher.

Fletcher is a good student who would love to play football in college. He has another year to build his gridiron resume, and he knows he has to get bigger and stronger to play at the next level. He says he isn’t going to be too picky where he plays. Right now, he just wants to see if he can get any offers. “I just want to see who shows interest. I know I have the height, but I’ve got to gain weight. It’s hard to do when you play three sports, but I don’t see myself dropping a sport,” says Fletcher, who also plays basketball and baseball.

Drew McCluskey is another Cougar who would like to play football on Saturdays. He’s a 5’9”, 170-pound running back/cornerback who is one of the mainstays of Brookstone’s offensive attack. McCluskey established himself as an every-down kind of back after rushing for 1,005 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. Through six games this season, McCluskey has tallied 495 yards rushing, 215 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. McCluskey missed three games after suffering a concussion early in the year. In the third game of the season, he took the ball and ran around the left side. When he ran out of room, he stepped out of bounds. A defender had a hold of him and kept pushing him, eventually throwing him down on the running track surrounding the field. McCluskey hit his head on the track and ended up sitting out for three games. “We did a personal foul call on the other player, though,” says McCluskey.

McCluskey’s style of play has certainly impressed his quarterback. “Drew is a great player and a great leader. He puts everything he has into this team. This year, when he was out with the concussion, he was a great leader on the sidelines for us. He’s also a great receiver out of the backfield, and he always wants the ball,” says Fletcher.

Playing running back is nothing new for the Brookstone senior. He started playing football when he was about eight years old, and has pretty much been a running back in a Wing-T style of offense his whole life. His varsity career began when he was in the ninth grade. Much of his freshman year, he was a deep man on the kickoff return team. McCluskey broke into the starting lineup as a sophomore and has been an important part of Brookstone’s offense since.

Like every other Cougar, McCluskey did not like the way last year turned out. He used the disappointing outcome as motivation to improve for the 2011 season. “We worked really hard last year. To go 7-3 and not make the playoffs got under our skins. We worked even harder this year. We were very motivated,” he says.

McCluskey is an impact player who can make a difference in the outcome of a game on his own. A big part of preparing for the season involved focusing on the mental side of the game as much as it did getting ready physically. McCluskey had to understand what he does well and the role he plays in the Cougars attack. He is more than just a ball carrier. His presence on the field forces the defense to make a decision - are they going to key on him and open up opportunities for the other backs, or are they going to commit their resources equally among Brookstone’s trio of running backs? If they key on McCluskey, the other two backs are more than capable of doing tremendous damage.

If they don’t key on McCluskey, he can beat them by himself. It’s a scenario that isn’t lost on McCluskey. “If I do my job, then that opens up the passing game and our other running backs. Having Duncan back there also creates opportunities. He has really come into his own this year,” says McCluskey.

Last season, McCluskey joined Brookstone’s track team for the first time since he entered high school. Usually, he would spend the offseason playing basketball and baseball, but he suffered a shoulder injury in his junior year that prevented him from playing either sport and landed him on the operating table. He hurt his shoulder against Marion County on the opening kickoff. McCluskey took a hard shot in his shoulder, and went down with a torn labrum and a fractured socket. He finished football season in a brace and had surgery right after the season ended. With his shoulder limiting his throwing motions, the only thing he could was run. He ran the 100 meters, 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay. Near the end of track season, he had a second shoulder surgery and couldn’t finish the track season. McCluskey was in good hands with regard to his shoulder rehabilitation - his father is a surgeon and performed the operation on McCluskey’s bad shoulder. “I think he lost a lot of money on that operation,” laughs McCluskey.

As far as his future is concerned, McCluskey’s options are wide open. He hopes to play football in college, and he has some interest from Division II and III schools. He plans to take a visit to Furman this year, and he’s also very interested in playing for Mercer, which is starting a football team next season. “Playing in college has been a realistic goal for me since last year. I felt like I established myself as a good running back and I would have a chance to play in college. If running back doesn’t work out, I believe I could be a slot receiver-type of player at a smaller school,” he says. McCluskey’s grades will help him as much as his athletic ability. His father and the Brookstone coaching staff emphasize academics as much as they do athletics, and McCluskey is committed to doing well in the classroom. “Brookstone is tough academically. Grades come first,” he says.

After losing to Marion County, the Cougars’ goal of winning a region title was lost. Their postseason hopes were still very much alive with one game left against the 7-2 Greenville Patriots. “Those last two games are pretty big,” says McCluskey. First and foremost, the Cougars want to make the playoffs. That will ease the sting of last season. After that, it’s a matter of getting on a roll and seeing how far they can go. A lot of unexpected things can happen in the postseason, but with two players like Fletcher and McCluskey leading the way, Brookstone’s chances are good. ITG