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Nordonia (OH)
Macedonia
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 185 pounds
40-yard dash: 4.42 seconds
GPA: 3.0
another big night this weekend
Scout Profile
Nordonia (OH)
Macedonia
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 185 pounds
40-yard dash: 4.42 seconds
GPA: 3.0
another big night this weekend
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/109472743828440.xmlJordan Mabin, Nordonia - Rushed for 223 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns, and caught three passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in a 39-27 win over Barberton.
Fateful Knight
Nordonia's Jordan Mabin may be one of the state's rising sophomores, but a June car accident reinforced to him the precious nature of life and the importance of humility.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Tim Rogers
Plain Dealer Reporter
What happened remains a blur to Jordan Mabin, just bits and pieces of that night on June 23.
He tries to remember the exact circumstances, some kind of chronological order in which the events unfolded. He can't. It happened right before his eyes, yet he cannot remember everything. Details are sketchy, at best.
Mabin, the Nordonia Knights' gifted sophomore tailback, remembers sitting in the back seat of a teammate's car as they left a party. The teammate and his female friend were in the front seats. He remembers they were late. He knew it would be a reach to make it home to beat the 11 p.m. curfew imposed by his parents, and they drove along at speeds close to 90 mph.
"I guess that's why we were going so fast," said Mabin. "I know we were going fast, but I don't know how fast."
Much of what happened next does not register.
After hitting a curb and leaving the road at the intersection of Sheppard Road and E. Highland Road in Macedonia, the car soared 85 feet into some woods, just missing a telephone pole. The car plowed through some heavy underbrush before crashing into a tree stump; a couple of minutes later, it started on fire.
Miraculously, there were no fatalities. Mabin suffered a concussion and a bruised kidney and was kept the hospital overnight. The driver suffered a broken arm. Somehow, the girl walked away unharmed except for some bumps and bruises. All were wearing their seat belts. According to the police report, no alcohol was involved.
Two months later, the skid marks still are visible.
"People told me that we hit a curb and went airborne, but I don't remember that," Mabin said. "I guess it's because of the concussion. I remember the car catching on fire after we all got out. But I don't remember getting out.
"I know I could have been killed. We all could have been killed. . . . They said that if we would have hit that pole, we'd all be dead.
"We were just in a hurry to get home."
LESSON LEARNED
Don't dismiss Mabin as just another misguided teen. He speaks distinctly and directly. His conversations are dotted with, "Yes, sirs" and an occasional "Pardon me?" He comes across as a kid who is mature beyond his 15 years, a kid who seems to have most of it figured out.
Even so, Mabin and his parents, Howard and Debbie, had many long and frank discussions after the accident. "We talked about making the right choices and doing the right things," Jordan said. "I understood what they were talking about."
"He's still a teenager," Howard said, "and teenagers can have short memories, but I sense there was a lesson learned here. I see a difference in him.
"It makes you realize how fast it can all go away, how fast your life could change. . . Accidents happen, it's all part of life, but you have to make sure you don't put yourself in dangerous positions and take unnecessary risks."
The accident also had a profound effect on Knights coach Keith Boedicker.
"It is a devastating thing when you lose an athlete or a student," said Boedicker, who has twice gone through the agony of losing former players. "It slams things into perspective for you. It makes you realize how much love you have for all the kids who played for you. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't think about it."
Mabin said the accident only renewed his faith, not that he needed any help in that area. He is a devout Christian.
"I pray every day," he said. "Without God, I don't know where I'd be. He has helped me in a lot of ways, and not just in the accident. . . Not many kids get the opportunity to display their skills when they are freshmen."
FAB FRESHMAN
That, Mabin did. In 2003, he rushed for 1,067 yards as a freshman, even though Tom Stockle was the team's featured runner. In two games this season, Mabin has 424 yards and is emerging as one of the top sophomores in Ohio.
He realizes that his athletic ability, if used properly, will lead to bigger and better things. His father was a cornerback at the University of Louisville from 1979 through 1981 after being recruited out of high school in Pennsylvania. Mabin says his father's experience will be invaluable to him when it comes time to make his college choice.
"He tells me that he knows what I will be going through, because he went through it all," Mabin said. "He knows all there is about playing high school football and going on to college, because he did it. He is giving me a great advantage through his insight."
Mabin's running style can best be described as a glide. He patiently waits for holes to open. When they do, he has the acceleration and speed (he has run a 4.4 in the 40 and has covered 200 meters in 22.4) to blast through before they close. He has the athletic ability to juke would-be tacklers in the open field, and he has been blessed with hands as soft as Omar Vizquel's favorite glove.
"Jordan is bound and determined to make himself a Division I football player," Boedicker said. "You can see that he is very mature as a person and as a player."
Another quality that Boedicker loves about his prized back is his humility.
"Around here, he is just one of the guys," Boedicker said. "He wants to be one of the guys. He realizes that he is a member of a team. It would be easy for an athlete with his ability to become a prima donna. That won't happen."
"I have had a great upbringing," Mabin says proudly. "My parents have made sure I knew right from wrong. They taught me to be humble and that an education is important."
"We have taught all our children to treat other people the way they want to be treated," Harold said. "We have tried to impress upon them that they are not better than anyone else, and everyone's a friend until they prove otherwise. We believe in that as a family."
That's one thing that Mabin won't forget.
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