The Lowdown with Brown: School Pride and Family Ties Shape BBG Sports Picks of the Week

By Malcolm Brown, BBG Folk Sports Reporter

When I gave Capital running back Tony Rush Jr. an honorable mention on BBG Sports Live, Justin Phillips took the conversation from rushing yards to a family name.

“Shout out to the DNA,” Justin said. I echoed him. We were giving a nod to the toughness we associate with the Rush name, along with recognizing what Tony had done on the field.

That is how our conversations go on “The Lowdown with Brown.” We talk numbers, but we also talk school pride, family reputation and the young players giving their communities something to cheer about.

George Washington is “G Dub” in our conversation. Its young standouts are the “super sophomores.” When we talk about Capital, we also celebrate alumni coming back to coach and mentor the next generation. Those nicknames and connections are part of the way we tell local sports stories.

Those connections extend beyond game night. As BBG previously reported, former West Virginia high school standout Fred Crozier is helping develop the next generation, training athletes including Peyton Grigsby and Jaden Black—both recognized in this week’s picks.

For my weekly picks, I weigh production, the level of competition and what a player’s performance meant to the outcome. Here are my top five, in order, using the performance figures I shared on the show.

1 Desean Isabell of George Washington

George Washington’s sophomore quarterback is my number one this week after helping the Patriots beat Princeton 31–14. His stat line included 142 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Justin pointed to Isabell’s passing reads and game awareness, including knowing when to slide to keep the clock running. We call these young GW players “super sophomores” because they are showing us a level of poise beyond what their grade suggests.

2 Trevaun Tyson of South Charleston

Tyson’s numbers made this an easy selection: 119 rushing yards and four touchdowns on five carries, all in one quarter.

Justin said the clips made it look easy. My description was, “He was gliding.” Sometimes that is the phrase that stays with you after a game. The numbers tell you what happened; the way we describe a run gives people a picture to carry into the next conversation.

3 David Robinson Jr of Herbert Hoover

Robinson earned the third spot with 138 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries. That is another dominant performance.

Justin called him his front-runner for the Kennedy Award, and I see him as a front-runner, too. I put him third this week because the level of competition matters in my rankings. Debating those choices is part of the conversation: who is producing, against whom, and who deserves that recognition?

4 Ceno Riley of South Charleston

Riley gave us a football “hat trick”: a touchdown pass, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.

I call him a “plug and play” athlete because he can help in different roles. Justin and I talked about the value of players who will do what their team needs. Riley’s versatility earned him this spot and recognition for that team-first approach.

5 Peyton Grigsby of Herbert Hoover

Grigsby rounds out my top five after completing 11 of 15 passes with three touchdown passes. I like the way he is spreading the ball around.

Justin had wondered how he would manage an offense with several receiving options. “He’s been doing a great job,” he said. A quarterback who gets others involved deserves his share of the spotlight.

Honorable mentions

George Washington’s Jaden Black gets an honorable mention with 152 rushing yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. We also celebrated his crossing the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season.

Capital’s Tony Rush Jr. gets the other with 124 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in the Cougars’ overtime victory over Oak Hill. In a game that close, those contributions matter.

Rush brought us back to family reputation. Black brought us back to the promise of GW’s young backfield. 

That is what these weekly conversations capture: the performances, the names and the local pride that gives people a reason to keep talking long after the game ends.