Central Academy's grand football gesture touches a community

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One of the beauties of high school sports, sometimes, is the purity of it all. There are sometimes special moments that go way beyond just a game.

Such a moment happened last week in Mount Airy.

Towards the end of Mount Airy’s 47-14 playoff win over Monroe’s Central Academy, Mount Airy put in a special needs player Austin Bowman.

Bowman had run the ball at the end of some games but had never scored. Mount Airy was near the Central goal line and Central coach Tad Baucom, who knew of Bowman's story, had an idea. He wanted Bowman to score.

Baucom was out of timeouts but asked the refs to stop the game to coordinate a treat for Bowman. Baucom consulted Mount Airy coach Kelly Holder and then he consulted his defense.

Everybody was in agreement to make a very special moment happen.

On the next play, Central’s players dove out of the way and let Bowman finish his three-carry 38 yard night with a 16-yard touchdown run. You should've seen Bowman's face

And after the game, the teams met and prayed at midfield and Bowman got the game ball.

“There is a buzz in our school that hasn’t left us yet,” Baucom said. “This may be the best loss that any of us have ever experienced. I know it is in my 32 years of coaching.”