High School Player With Cerebral Palsy Scores 80-Yard Touchdown in Missouri, Video Shows

A Missouri high school football player with cerebral palsy just had a moment he will never forget. [...]

By Brian Jones

A Missouri high school football player with cerebral palsy just had a moment he will never forget. PJ Allred, a senior from Smith-Cotton High School, ran for an 80-yard touchdown run last week against Hickman. It was Smith-Cotton's only points of the game as they lost 40-6, but it's clear Allred was the only winner on the field. In the video, Allred is seen running past everyone and then dives into the endzone, and that's when everyone on the field congratulates him. The play was so memorable it made ESPN's Top 10 Plays earlier this week.

"This is the first time he's been on the field and it worked out," Smith-Cotton head coach Charlie McFail said via the Charlotte Observer. "It was neat to see Hickman and Smith-Cotton come together at the end of it and hang with each other down there."

Not only did Allred score a touchdown, but he was also named team captain and the first to run out on the field before the game began. The touchdown came on the final play of the game.

"We did not have a plan for him to get into the game, it just came up in the moment," head coach Charles McFail said to USA Today in an email.

Cedric Alvis, the head coach of Hickman, said the moment was bigger than winning or losing.

"To see the entire sideline run and sprint, even our cheerleaders, at that moment as a coach it's like, 'Wow!' This is really bigger than this moment exactly, seeing all the different people that are impacted, the smiles, Smith-Cotton fans, their cheerleaders, all of their players excited. The actual win was meaningless at that point. The fact that PJ got that moment and that everyone can celebrate, that was the most important thing," Alvis said to KCTV 5 News.

Social media loved that Allred got to have that moment with fans taking to Twitter, expressing their adoration for the moment.

"I've been waiting for this and hate that I wasn't at the game to see it. I probably would have been bawling! PJ Allred scored the only touchdown for S-C tonight. He is such a fun kid and loved by his teammates and the Hickman Kewpies tonight. What a great show of sportsmanship...proud of all those kids on the field!" wrote one fan.

Other users on Twitter were showing the video of Allred and he also won Play of the Week from ABC 17 News.

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