Myles Brown making an impact in the Thompson Warriors secondary

Times have changed since Myles Brown decided that football was not for him.

“There was a lot of hitting and stuff and I didn’t like it,” said Brown, who made the decision to concentrate on baseball and basketball when he first entered Thompson High.

You could never tell that by the way that the 6-foot, 175-pound safety plays the game today. He is one of the top tacklers – and most physical players – on a Thompson High defense that allows just 16 points per game. Brown is fourth on the team with 59 tackles and has added three tackles for loss, two interceptions and 10 pass deflections.

Obviously, the hitting aspect of the game is no longer a bother for Brown.

“He’s very physical,” said Thompson head coach Mark Freeman.

Brown continues to be one of the top baseball players at Thompson. But he chose to give up basketball, as a sophomore, to pursue football when Freeman took over the program.

“I knew he was a good coach and I wanted to come back,” Brown said. “I knew there was something special about him. I just wanted to be a part of this program.”

As a sophomore, Brown played his natural position of cornerback. As a junior, Brown changed positions because the Warriors were strong at cornerback and needed help at a safety. He responded by earning Class 7A All-State honors after grabbing eight interceptions.

“I think in college, he’ll be a corner,” Freeman said. “If we had a couple of safeties with experience, we would put Myles on the corner and have him lock somebody up. He definitely can play corner. He’s that 200-pound corner (at the next level) that can come up and tackle and do a lot of things.”

Of course, Brown, who has received recruiting interest thus far from Kennesaw State and Eastern Kentucky, has also shown the skills that make a good safety.

“He breaks on the ball really well, he’s a really good athlete,” Freeman said. “His hips are really good and he has anticipation. He’s just what you want in a safety. He anticipates where the ball is going to be (and) he can decoy himself into getting to a throw at certain spots. He’s been a big player for us.”

For the record, Brown admits that cornerback is his favorite position, even though he has no complaints about playing safety.

“It’s that feeling when you guard somebody and they don’t catch the ball,” Brown said. “It’s like ‘You can’t catch it on me.’ It’s just feels good.”

As a secondary, the Warriors get their stiffest test of the regular season in Friday’s Class 7A Region 3 title deciding game against the Hoover Bucs. Hoover’s talented receiving corps include Auburn commitments Shedrick Jackson and George Pickens. The teams had some memorable battles last summer in 7-on-7 competition.

While Brown won’t line up at cornerback on Friday night, he’ll get some chances in man coverage against the Bucs’ receivers. He said he has a lot of respect for the Hoover offense but also looks forward to the challenge.

“I’ve been waiting on this game for a while, to be honest,” Brown said. “We played them in the summer and we went back and forth with them. All the hype about their receivers just make me want to guard them more.”

Brown said it’s an advantage that the Thompson defense works daily against Ahmad Harris-Edwards, Mo Edwards and the rest of the Warrior receivers.

“We don’t like to give up anything on defense – in a game or practice,” Brown said. “We don’t care who you are. We make them work hard every day and they make us work hard.”