News

HS Football Teams Celebrate Heartwarming Touchdown For Sam Jordan, Manager With Down Syndrome

On Friday, before the Lake Norman High School and Vance High School played each other for first place in their conference, Lake Norman head coach Jonathan Oliphant wanted to do something special for senior Sam Jordan.

Jordan, who has down syndrome has been the manager of the team since he was a freshman.

“We wanted to do something for him that he wouldn’t forget,” Oliphant said.

On Thursday night, when the junior varsity Lake Norman team and Vance faced one another, Oliphant pitched the idea of letting Jordan run for a touchdown before the two varsity teams played to Vance varsity coach Glenwood Ferebee. Ferebee agreed to the idea, and both set the plan in motion.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Before the game started, Jordan lined up Lake Norman’s backfield with the ball marked at the 50-yard line. Jordan was given the handoff and ran through the field and defenders. Vance defenders trailed Jordan and fell as the team manager ran to the endzone with ease. Once Jordan reached the end, he was greeted by players on both teams for celebration.


“It was great,” said Ferebee. “My background is in special education, and I identify with those kids and I understand how special they are. I talked to my kids and said, ‘Make sure that kid has the best moment because he’ll remember this for the rest of his life.’”

It was a heartwarming moment and action made by both teams. “You try to teach these kids to be good people and good husbands and good dads,” Oliphant said. “At some point, the Man Upstairs will judge us all, and I try to live by the Golden Rule, and I try to get these kids to do the same.”

“The world’s a crazy place right now, but I think we made his night,” stated Oliphant.

Allan Perez

Recent Posts

Paul George Exits With Knee Injury As 76ers Fall To 2-12 In Loss To Grizzlies

With their big three finally back in action Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered another setback…

7 hours ago

VIDEO: Nike Pays Tribute to Rafael Nadal With 30-Foot Projection In Front of Eiffel Tower

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tny--EWynOQ Nike paid tribute to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a 10-meter-tall animated display…

1 day ago

VIDEO: Rafael Nadal Gets Emotional Tribute as He Retires From Tennis

https://youtu.be/dtJoJz9hC48 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bid a heartfelt goodbye to his devoted Spanish fans as he brought…

1 day ago

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Fencer Eli Dershwitz Explains The Art Of Fencing

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DQ9Rxhnuer4 U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing…

2 days ago

Two Bears Offensive Linemen Return To Practice, Caleb Williams Desperate For Blocking

Two offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears returned to practice, a massive step in the…

3 days ago

VIDEO: UFC Heavyweight Champion Performs Viral Trump Dance In New York

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s2g9t_33Myw President-elect Donald Trump received a warm welcome from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Jon…

4 days ago