Alex Daniel Rushed for 101 yards on 24 carries and a TD In the AAAAA state title game. Alex and almost all white Roswell tide mostly black Peachtree Ridge (Roswell was more white than Peachtree Ridge was black) 14-14 in the state title game. Alex was Playing with a huge knee brace for the knee he sprained in weak one of the playoffs and also had a sprained ankle. On his 26 yard touchdown run he hurdled a man juked the crap out of the safety then dove into the end zone.
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Roswell back Daniels aches to run
Player won't sit despite breaks, pain
By MICHAEL CARVELL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/14/06
Duct tape. Super glue. Safety pins.
Alex Daniel is likely to try them all if they'll hold his limbs together. The Roswell junior tailback's play-at-all costs attitude might be questioned, but his durability and toughness are as reliable as the yards he has gained this season en route to pacing the Hornets to Saturday's Class AAAAA championship game against Peachtree Ridge.
Jason Getz / AJC
(ENLARGE)
Roswell running back Alex Daniel has gained 1,757 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.
So determined is Daniel that his coach still doesn't know why he let Daniel dress out for a second-round playoff game against Brookwood. A sprained left knee that was injured the week before meant Daniel could not play.
Or so coach Tim McFarlin thought.
"He was mad about not being able to play, and I realized I had made a mistake by letting him dress," McFarlin said. "He kept saying 'Coach, I can go. I can go.' I told him I couldn't let him go because the doctors didn't clear him. We're not going to risk any player's future over one game."
Daniel wasn't trying to hear that. Helmet in hand, shoulder pads ready  and uniform way too clean  he spent the entire game lobbying McFarlin. He even offered to use his cellphone to call his father at halftime so his dad could give McFarlin the OK.
The call never came, but the move wouldn't have surprised Kenny Daniel either. Kenny said playing through pain is nothing new for his son.
"Alex is a tough kid," he said. "Last year, he injured his foot in the third game. A lot of doctors thought it was turf toe. After the season was over Alex's foot continued to burn and ache. It was then we found out he had played eight games with a broken bone in his foot."
It's that fiercly competitive nature that has bolstered Roswell in its most successful season since winning the state championship in 1970. It's also fashioned Daniel into his team's top offensive weapon.
In last week's semifinal against Tift County at the Georgia Dome, Daniel appeared to be back in true form. In the second half, he sprinted down the middle for a 76-yard touchdown run.
"It looked like he was shot out of a cannon," Roswell lineman Trey Johnson said. "I had blocked my guy down on the ground, and by the time I looked up, Alex was already 30 yards down the field. I mean, he was gone."
He has done that repeatedly this season, picking up 1,757 yards and 16 touchdowns.
That's a breakaway touchdown away from what most expected out of Roswell's tailback position this season.
The Hornets had to replace Randell Bell, whom McFarlin last year labeled "the best running back" he had ever coached in his 26 years at the north Fulton school.
Daniel entered high school as a highly-touted tailback, but with Bell firmly entrenched at the position, he was moved to defensive back. Last year, Daniel expanded his roles to split end and tailback, whenever Bell needed a rest.
"I learned a lot from watching Randell every day," Daniel said. "He was the best back I'd seen since I've been at Roswell. I thought he was the best in Georgia last year. I knew I would have big shoes to fill this year, and I was going to do my best to fill them."
Daniel has proved to be a capable replacement. While Bell was bigger and ran with more power, Daniel has above-average quickness and often makes defenders miss in the open field.
His biggest asset: A high threshold for pain.
Following the knee injury and the one-game absence against Brookwood, he returned to action in the state quarterfinals against Houston County. Daniel ran with a limp  and scored two touchdowns. He said his knee was fine but his left ankle got twisted.
Either way, he wasn't going to miss a second game. Period.
"I had been a part of the team, and it was killing me that I couldn't play," Daniel said of the Brookwood game. "This was Roswell's biggest game in forever, and I wanted to be part of it."
Saturday is the biggest game the Hornets have played in 36 years. And it's the biggest for Daniel. Like any rusher heading into the 15th game of the season, Daniel is banged up.
"When he was real young, other kids would watch cartoons and Alex would turn it on ESPN," his father said. "He loves everything about football. When I coached him in recreation ball for years, it was easy to see his competitiveness. He always wanted to be out there and in the middle of things."
Beat up or not.
what gives? they talked about some kid out of MO, but not about home-grown Arkansan Derek Lawson's incredible performance... not surprising since they are up the butt of the Razorbacks. they probably don't want to tout a phenomenal talent that the Hogs are screwing over.
