CHINA GROVE — Darren Isom may be the county’s best-kept secret — and that’s just the way he likes it.
As Carson’s No. 2 halfback, the junior is hardly someone you’d game-plan for. And on a roster stocked with leading men like Myquon Stout, Brandon Sloop, Austin McNeil and Alex Lyles, the spotlight will never be his alone. But Isom’s performance in Friday’s 10-3 non-conference victory at Mount Pleasant was simply impossible to ignore.
“He’s just a player who hasn’t had his big breakout yet,” said Bobby Morris, Carson’s first-year running backs coach. “But he’s working hard and making the most of his opportunities. It’s starting to pay off for him.”
It paid handsome dividends as the Cougars won their second straight and improved to 3-2 overall. He rushed 11 times for a team-best 77 yards and caught a 66-yard, game-winning touchdown pass from McNeil with 1:07 remaining.
“Darren wasn’t with us in the summer so he’s still learning, still getting bits and pieces of it,” coach Joe Pinyan said. “As that happens he’s getting more and more playing time. Once he gets into the flow of the game he’s a pretty good player.”
Isom, who spent the summer tending to family matters, didn’t flow at all until the second quarter, but on his first carry he busted an 18-yard run. Moments later he took a handoff, maneuvered through some bumper-to-bumper traffic and motored down the left sideline deep into MP territory.
That could have been a touchdown,” the 6-foot-1, 209-pound Isom said. “But (the officials) said I stepped out of bounds. When we looked at the film, my left foot was still in bounds by about an inch.”
Instead of pushing CHS into the lead, the play was whistled dead at the Mount 18-yard line. Three snaps and a motion penalty later, the drive stalled when a fourth-down field goal attempt was blocked.
After Carson’s offense hobbled through the third period — it recorded three consecutive three-and-outs — Isom provided some much-needed first aid in the fourth. He carried the ball eight times for 48 yards on a tone-changing 17-play drive that shaved nearly nine minutes off the clock. There was his 4-yard pickup for a first down at the 44, then a 14-yard gain into Mount territory on third-and-eight play. Only 6:52 remained when Isom took a pitchout to the left side and punctured his way for 12 yards to the MP 23. That drive fizzled at the five, but teammate Logan Correll’s field goal tied the score 3-3 with 2:49 to go.
“He was a game-changer,” said Carson lineman Cody Rodriguez. “You watch how he plays. He’s a power runner with great speed, someone who can bowl you over and then take off.”
Isom showcased both talents on the game-winning play. It was set up when Lyles recovered an MP fumble at the Carson 34 with 1:19 to play. That’s when Pinyan called a play that had failed miserably earlier in the game.
“The wheel play,” he said. “Darren lined up on the line of scrimmage instead of a step behind it, which made him an ineligible receiver. If Austin had thrown it to him it would have been a penalty. But the play blew up and (McNeil) had to run for his life.”
With the game on the line, Isom told himself to focus on executing the same play correctly. After the snap he swung through the backfield, turned upfield and did a button hook just five yards over the line of scrimmage. “I couldn’t believe how wide open I was,” he recalled. “Nobody was on me.”
McNeil spiraled a short pass that Isom caught near the left sideline. He turned, picked up a block from wideout Andrew Hower, and jetted past Mount Pleasant’s flailing defenders into the end zone. “When I got the ball,” he said, “ I didn’t know what else to do but run.”
Could a starting spot be far behind?
“That’s what he wants,” Pinyan insisted. “He’s pushing hard for it and getting closer and closer. Right now he’s making our other running backs work even harder. They know this cat’s right behind them.”
And that’s no secret.