SPRINGDALE — Brandon Nodier went from sidelined with a bum ankle to frantically searching for a helmet and mouthpiece in a matter of seconds in late October.
Nodier had already missed a game with a nagging ankle injury and wasn’t supposed to play in Prairie Grove’s home matchup with struggling Pea Ridge. But Tigers coach Danny Abshier sought him out after the linebacker that replaced him broke his leg with the game tied 28-28 and Pea Ridge driving for the win late in the fourth quarter.
“At first I thought it was kind of a joke,” Nodier said. “Cause he walked up to me and said, ‘Can you go in?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ I said yeah just because I wanted to play.”
The long injury delay allowed Nodier to test the ankle out on the sideline. He decided he could go after some short sprints.
He was dressed out, but hadn’t bothered to bring his helmet or mouthpiece to the sideline because he didn’t expect to play. So he had to borrow both from his cousin, Blake Faulk.
“It was disgusting,” Nodier said of wearing Faulk’s mouthpiece.
It was worth it. Nodier won’t soon forget what happened next.
His unexpected return to the fi eld served as a rallying point for Prairie Grove fans who had just witnessed a significant injury and were watching the Tigers struggle in a surprisingly tight game.
“It was really quiet and dead,” Nodier said. “Then when I ran out there, the whole stands went crazy. It gave me chills and everything. It was awesome.”
His next three plays were even better.
Nodier made the tackle on the first two plays. Then, on fourth down, he stripped a Pea Ridge ballcarrier, forcing a fumble that a teammate scooped up and returned for a touchdown and a 35-28 Tigers win.
“Nodier’s a powerhouse,” Abshier said. “He’s that dynamic of a player. He’s got a nose for the football.”
It was his best play in a senior season filled with big ones. Nodier finished with 88 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble for the 10-2 Tigers, numbers made even more impressive when factoring in that he missed two-and-a-half games.
“He’s explosive and has quickness,” Abshier said. “He can get to the ball in a hurry. And he’s pretty much fearless.”
Nodier made an impact during his career at Prairie Grove, a location he and his family relocated to after they were displaced from their New Orleans home by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
His family had relatives in Star City and Fayetteville. They eventually settled in Prairie Grove, which was a culture shock at first for a 9-year-old Nodier, who was just in grade school.
“I didn’t really know what to think,” Nodier said. “It was like a shock. Being so young, it was weird. I didn’t really know that farms were real. I couldn’t really grasp the fact that people really did raise cows and there were fields. I thought we were in the middle of nowhere in Fayetteville. I couldn’t stand it. It was weird.”
But he warmed to the new, slower paced life as time passed, helped in part by playing football at Prairie Grove. Eight years later, the town has become home.
“I wouldn’t change anything,” Nodier said.
Except maybe bringing his own mouthpiece.