By JOSH BROWN
OCM News Service
jbrown@tdnpublishing.com
Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed on November 4, 2011
Jake Finfrock was born for greatness. The product of two families known for producing extremely talented athletes, the Milton-Union senior bears a pedigree that few others can claim. But raw talent can only get a player so far. Becoming an actual leader takes the right combination of external factors while growing up to put it all together.
And again, Finfrock’s upbringing helped out there. “My dad (Kevin) was always big in football. That’s why I got into it,” he said. “I grew up watching him coach at Covington. I just took everything I saw to heart. He’s one of my heroes.”
And in his final season in the Milton-Union Bulldogs’ backfield, Finfrock has helped put the team in a position for greatness, too. The final drive of the half for last week’s game against Northridge lasted just three plays, but it changed Milton-Union football history. After an incompletion, Caleb Barnes caught a bubble screen from Cody Hollon down to the Northridge 35, and Finfrock took the next handoff 35-yards for the touchdown. On that play, he became the all-time single season rusher in the history of the school, and finished his evening with 194 yards on 15 carries.
Not much has been able to stop the workhorse Finfrock. Shouldering much of the offensive load, Finfrock had carried the ball 201 times for 1,268 yards and 16 touchdowns by the time of their first Waynesville game. Against Preble Shawnee in Week 7, Finfrock cracked the
2,000-yard mark for his career, and with his one touchdown reception thrown in, he has accounted for slightly more than half of the Bulldogs’ offensive touchdowns this season while averaging more than 25 carries per game.
Of course, the mark of a true leader is to deflect all of the credit while taking on all of the blame. “He’s been a warrior for us,” Milton-Union coach Bret Pearce said. “And he’ll be the first one to give all of the credit to everyone else blocking for him.”
Sure enough …
“It’s a lot to do with the line,” Finfrock said. “They’ve been blocking hard for us all year. They’re the real workhorses. They’re working their butts off out there to get us victories.” And the proof is in the numbers. Finfrock’s backfield mates Tyler Brown and Clay Minton have combined for 1,008 yards and 13 more touchdowns — meaning that the Bulldogs’ line has cleared the way for 90 percent of
the offense’s yards and scores.
Even when opposing defenders get their hands on Finfrock, though, they have severe issues hauling him to the ground. Whether he slips out of tackles, dances around them or merely bulls his way through them, the thought of seeing Finfrock running their direction is a waking nightmare for any defender.
“I just keep my legs pumping and try to be as juky as I can,” he said. “He’s got a great mix of ability and work ethic,” Pearce said. “He’s
worked really hard to get himself into the shape he’s in.” Arguably Finfrock’s best trait as a leader, though, is the ability to add levity to practice with a well-timed joke. “He has a really good sense of when to inject humor and when to be serious,” Pearce said. “He can lighten up any practice at the right time. Of course, in games, he’s pretty serious.” “I think it lightens the mood a little,” Finfrock said. “I try to do it at the right time so coach doesn’t get too mad.”
Aside from the team’s goals, Finfrock has one personal goal in mind — best his Covington Hall of Fame father’s yardage total from his senior year. “Hopefully by the end of the season, I’ll have more yards than dad did his senior year,” Finfrock said. “I think he had about 1,560.” It wouldn’t be the first time a Finfrock child broke their parent’s mark — Jake’s sister, Kaci Finfrock, broke their mother Diana Finfrock’s career points total for Milton-Union girls basketball during the 2008-09 season.
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