Los Banos' Brown battled back from injury, ready to break out

LOS BANOS -- Six weeks ago, he could not have imagined this. Six weeks ago, he was trapped on the sideline, shackled and chained by a bad back that leaked pain -- indescribable pain -- into his legs.

He limped around campus and dared not run, much less tote a pigskin in practice. He was a football player, but only in spirit.

"I've never had to sit on the sideline," he says. "Guys would be happy after a win, jumping around and screaming. But I couldn't be happy.

"We had guys who played with injuries, but there I was stuck on the sideline. It made me wonder, 'Why?' "

When Los Banos head football coach Dennis Stubbs says Darron Brown is running with purpose again, exploding through holes and arm tackles, he's telling only half the story.

Brown digs his spikes into the soft, yellowing turf at Loftin Stadium, a garden hose cinched around his waist.

Connected at the other end: senior Gabriel Soto, sitting on his heels, hose wrapped around his hands.

Across from him: Greg Williams, the sophomore call-up who gobbled up most of the carries in Brown's absence.

Every Wednesday evening, practice begins with this tortuous drill dubbed "ropes" and "hoses." Some players, the non-running backs, stop to watch, thankful David Snapps isn't their position coach.

"It's bad. I wouldn't want to do it," senior quarterback Erik Martin said. "After the drill, they're lying on the floor. They can't even move. We have to give them a few minutes just to catch their breath."

Brown waits for Snapps -- the running backs coach -- to start the drill with a familiar cadence.

Hut, hut, hike.

When it finally comes, he's off, pumping and pulling, grunting and swearing under his breath. His thigh muscles scream for mercy. His lungs burn as if he were inhaling bits of glass.

"Oh, they love it," Stubbs said. "It wouldn't be practice without it."

One of the season's biggest enigmas, Brown tows Soto's 170 pounds for 40 yards -- five times. This exercise has become a ritual among Los Banos running backs. Some would say the very bane of their existence.

"It's horrible. I think about it every week. It's like the worst part of my week," Brown said. "You wrap a garden hose around your waist, and you've got a partner holding you back. We have to do it five times. After the second one, you don't want to do it anymore.

"When we're finally done, everyone collapses -- and that's the first period of the day. There's still practice.

"Our legs are like Jell-o. It's bad. It's horrible."

It can't be that bad. Can it?

With this latest "ropes," Brown may have convinced Snapps and Stubbs that he's healthy enough to once again be the featured back on Friday evening.

No. 8 Los Banos (7-3) hosts No. 9 Modesto (7-3) in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs. It's Los Banos' first home playoff game in nine years.

It's also the only Division I game that pits two league champions against each other.

Modesto slugged its way to the Modesto Metro Conference title, while Los Banos won its first and only Central California Conference championship by a nose.

Remarkably, Los Banos accomplished the feat with one foot perpetually in a doctor's office.

There were injuries to linebackers Marcus Arista and Julio Iglesias. A concussion for Martin.

But the oddest injury belonged to Brown. Even he doesn't know what it was. Or where it came from.

One morning, on the eve of the 2009 opener, Brown rolled gingerly out of bed. His hamstrings were tight, as if he'd pulled something.