'I wanted to do good for him': Grandpa's legacy inspires Fremont Ross senior Brown

Fremont Ross senior Dominic Brown was a little stubborn in general and online games were often his priority in life.

Sound like a teenager, you know? Brown started to focus on football a little more when he knew his grandfather, Tom Kiser, was watching and made a new commitment when Kiser died before the last season started.

"My grandpa was always happy he had a grandson who played football," Brown said. "He'd show me things [technique] at his house. I wanted to play video games. He watched me as a sophomore and coached me junior year.

"I didn't always fire off. He was proud of me. I played with an injury, I had to keep going."

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Brown, who is among players on this year's News-Messenger/News Herald defensive team, was anxious to continue to work with Kiser to see what came next. Jim Tressel invited Kiser to a practice as a consultant, and Kiser remained with Ohio State the entire national championship season in 2002.

Kiser died suddenly last summer.

"My grandpa lived football," Brown said. "My grandma went to the games. I wanted to do good for them. Win or lose, I loved to see them on the field after the game."

He intends to continue to make them proud.

"My ability to listen to coaches, rather than doing my own thing," he said. "I did a lot of self reflection. As a thrower for track, you have to analyze yourself. I realized the thing that limited me was listening to coaching.

"It translates to track. They told me for a long time, I finally started to get it."

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There were two occasions when Brown recognized he wanted more from himself.

"There were two points when I wanted to step up," he said. "As a sophomore, I played four games at the end of the year. I was happy, but I was upset and junior year I wasn't where I wanted to be. I let guys take me on. My grandpa passed in March.

"I wanted to impress him, I saw that opportunity. I thought about who I played for. It shifted to defensive line coach Mike Rankin. I limited myself. I wanted to do good for him as a senior and Mike. My grandpa and Mike always told me that I'm strong, they were proud, how much I can do.

"There were glimpses junior year, I wanted to show it. I got myself to where I wanted to be mentally and physically. They helped me grow into the person I am and become stronger on and off the field."

Brown devoted his senior season to his family, his team and Fremont.

"I wanted to show that I'm a man of God," he said.

Brown wasn't aggressive growing up.

"In middle school, I enjoyed it, but the team would get down," he said. "I didn't enjoy that."

He was less inclined to make an investment in football until late in high school.

"Film is important, of myself and others at the same position," he said. "What do they do that I can use. I'm faster, but not as big. I used to struggle keeping my pad level low. I'm taller, but I get double teamed. I switched my stance to stay low.

"Firing off low was my primary goal and taking away any gaps. And getting off my guy. I'd tend to bull rush, instead of get off."

Brown's role as a leader expanded. Sophomore Keyon Golff often looked to him for reinforcement.

"I had younger guys looking up to me," he said. "I tried to be a pillar, rather than a support beam."

Brown, who is 6-foot, 215 pounds, slid to the interior from defensive end as a junior. He played left guard as a junior and was typically inserted for one drive on offense as a senior.

He's not sure whether he prefers to pursue the quarterback or stand up a runner.

"When I see the opportunity to rush the passer, I get excited," he said. "I did my job and now I can do what I want. Go 100 miles per hour and chase this kid down. When you stop the run, it shows I'm not there to mess around.

"Those two things get me riled up."

Brown had 44 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He forced six fumbles, including two against Clay.

"My goal is to get off my guy," Brown said. "Once I did my job fast I'd get off. If I saw the ball away from his body, I took a chance and swung. Against Clay, I got through and he was trying to throw. I grabbed him and whipped him around.

"I wanted to take it away. [Rhien Hottinger] jumped on it. Go get it. Against Findlay, the guard and tackle had a miscommunication. I was wide on purpose to come down hard. Ryan Montgomery, I thought he threw it. My teammates were jumping on the ball for a safety."

The rest of the News-Messenger/News Herald Defense team follows:

Jake Ridener, Oak Harbor – The junior surpassed his own single-season program sack record (15) with 16 this season.

Haydn Sartor, Bellevue – The senior had 49 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.

Blake Hershey, Clyde – The senior had 46 tackles and six sacks.

Denver Stewart, Genoa – The senior had 97 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and one interception at linebacker. He had 64 solo tackles and two sacks. He caught nine touchdown passes at tight end.

Jack Caldwell, Woodmore ‒ The senior had 126 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and three sacks.

Kaine Smetzer, Margaretta – The senior had 107 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and one interception. He had three forced fumbles and one sack. He was first-team all-conference at running back as well, with 600 yards and six touchdowns on 127 tries.

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Dagan Meyers, Port Clinton – The senior had 72 tackles and four interceptions as he battled through injury. He had six touchdowns rushing.

Jayce Frymire, Ross – The junior had 43 tackles as a defensive back and one interception.

Mike LaLonde, Oak Harbor – The junior is a quarterback on both sides of the ball. He had four interceptions and broke up five passes on defense. He tossed 25 touchdowns and had 2,223 yards through the air.

Alex Spencer, Genoa – The junior had 47 tackles and three interceptions. He broke up five passes. He caught five touchdown passes.

CJ Biddle, Lakota – The senior had 113 tackles and three interceptions.

LaLonde is also the punter. There are no players on both the News-Messenger/News Herald defense and the offense.

mhorn@gannett.com

419-307-4892

X: @MatthewHornNH

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: OHSAA football: Meet News-Messenger/News Herald standouts on defense