HILLIARD, Ohio — There’s nothing like a Friday night of high school football and the way it brings an entire community together.
Every once in a while, one of those games brings a moment that could only be described as magic… which is how one might describe what happened at the Hilliard Davidson vs. Hilliard Bradley rivalry game Friday night.
"So much of football has nothing to do with football,” Jeremey Scally, head coach of the Hilliard Davidson varsity football team, said.
The heart of high school football lies within love for the game and the dreams of its players. It’s those individual dreams that unite a team to work toward a common goal.
"It's friendships, it's community, it's school, it's that brotherhood,” Scally said.
It’s a brotherhood that’s inclusive to all.
"I just like being part of the team and how I have friends on the team and stuff,” Jackson Maynard, a senior at Hilliard Davidson High School, said.
For a moment during the Davidson-Bradley rivalry game Friday night, the focus was on Jackson Maynard’s dream.
"It was kind of the right time to kind of knock the dust off and bring this play back out,” Coach Scally said.
The play is known as the Jackson Special. Kelly Maynard, Jackson’s mom, said he was diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy when he was five years old, which has confined him to a wheelchair. The disease is terminal.
"Especially with a disease like he has, we're never sure how much time we have left,” Kelly said.
The Maynard’s always found ways to make the time count. As a lifelong football fan, Kelly said Jackson first decided to ask to join the football team in middle school.
"He just was like, I'm gonna go talk to coach and I'm gonna see what I can do,” Kelly said.
Kelly added he was willing to play any part.
"Manager, hype man, he wanted to be the hype man. Well he's still the hype man, and I think any of the boys on the team will tell you he's the best hype man,” Kelly said.
"You just look at him and you just feel encouraged. You know he has your back, he's gonna be there for you when you need it,” Andrew Painter, Jackson’s teammate and friend, said.
The Jackson Special first rose to fame five years ago, when Jackson was in middle school.
"He gets to get off the sideline and feel what it's like to somewhat play his favorite sport,” Kelly said.
Even at age 12, his teammates understood the gravity of this endeavor. Those same teammates and friends have been playing alongside Jack ever since, making Friday’s night play all the more special.
"He always talks about it. He loves talking about his touchdown. Every year he's just like I can't wait to score this year, I can't wait, I can't wait,” Painter said.
But in order to make this dream happen one last time, both teams needed to be on board.
"It was just a phone call to Coach Loparo, ‘Hey here's what I'm thinking.’ It took half a second, he's like, ‘Yes... like what are we in this for anyways, right? Are we not in it for the kids that we coach?" Scally said.
To get ready for the game, the guys needed to bring the hype for the hype man.
"He's ready. He's ready for this moment… I'll be right beside him just like seventh grade,” Beckett Walsh, Jackson’s teammate and friend, said.
After halftime, the Jackson Special was on and he was locked in. No one was more proud of that moment than his mom, and she could hear the crowd chanting, “Jackson Maynard!”
The ball was snapped to Maynard and he scored a touchdown alongside his teammates one last time.
"Just to see him do that and live out his dreams is what really makes me happy as a friend,” Painter said.
"It felt good that everyone was cheering for me and happy that I scored,” Jackson said.
That kind of joy has a ripple effect.
"It was amazing looking up and seeing his mom, Kelly, you know, she works so hard. And you look up you see her in tears, his whole family you know that's what meant a lot to me,” Walsh said.
A moment with a lot of meaning, for boys who play with a lot of heart.
"As you can see... he's out here living his best life and there's a lesson to be learned from him on that,” Kelly said.
Kelly started the Little Hercules Foundations after he was diagnosed to raise money for muscular dystrophy research. To learn more about the foundation and how you can help, click here.