by Malcolm Butler
Johnathan Brantley admitted that during last week’s Bayou Jamb, he had to sit away from everyone else as he watched his youngest son, Jacob, take the field with his Ruston Bearcat teammates at Malone Stadium.
He knew he was going to be emotional. And who could blame him? A year earlier, Johnathan and his family weren’t thinking about tackles, jersey numbers, or Friday night football.
They were thinking about cancer.
So when Jacob ran onto the field last week wearing a Bearcat uniform again, his dad simply needed a little room to take it all in.
Friday night, in a showdown between No. 1 Ruston and No. 1 Neville, the emotions were still there. But this time, so was a regular-season football game.
Jacob Brantley, a junior defensive lineman, started and recorded four tackles, including two for loss, as Ruston defeated Neville 42-16 at L.J. “Hoss” Garrett Stadium.
“I just came out here to dominate,” Jacob said. “I had a lot on my mind. I just wanted to get back at it from last year, since I couldn’t do it last year.”
Last August, football suddenly became secondary for Jacob, Johnathan and the entire Brantley family.
What initially was believed to be a cyst on his ankle was eventually diagnosed as synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Jacob underwent surgery and radiation treatments at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, costing him his sophomore football season.
Through it all, Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said Jacob never allowed the diagnosis to change who he was.
“It’s pretty unbelievable to me,” Baugh said following Friday night’s win over Neville. “And really, the thing is, it’s pretty unbelievable the way that he handled the whole situation last year.
“If I were his age, there would have been no way I would have had the faith that he had that everything was going to turn out. He never blinked. I never saw him be upset. He just was going to take care of himself and be ready to be back.”
Jacob remained around the Bearcats for as long as he could before treatments and surgery forced him away. And now he’s back.
“To have him out here, just running around like he hadn’t missed a beat, is pretty unbelievable,” Baugh said.
For Jacob, the motivation to return was simple. He missed playing football for the Bearcats.
“Basically, since I missed out so much, I just wanted to play,” Jacob said. “All I wanted to do was play football. And finally getting back out here for Week 1 against Neville, I just came out here to dominate.”
And that’s what Jacob and the Bearcats’ defense did, holding Neville out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter, when the game was already out of reach.
Starting quarterback Sam Hartwell also spoke of the emotion he felt watching his teammate fight through adversity off the field last year.
“It’s emotional to talk about,” Hartwell said. “His brother, Josh, was one of the biggest influences in my life, especially transferring over here. When he got diagnosed with cancer, it was really hard.
“The way he’s fighting now, the way he’s playing, he’s playing at such a high level. He’s an awesome dude, awesome player.
“He’s bounced back. He’s the hardest worker I know. God bless for getting him back on the field. God is great.”
As Johnathan stood on the Ruston sideline during the fourth quarter Friday night, he couldn’t help but think about just how different life looked 12 months earlier.
“This time last year, we were fighting a battle,” Johnathan said. “Jacob fought that battle, and he won. Now he’s back here with his teammates.
“He worked his butt off this summer trying to get back because he wanted to start. He felt like last year, if that hadn’t happened, he would have been starting, too. He’s just so upbeat right now. We think back to this time last year, and our lives were upside down.”
Jacob was declared cancer-free late last year, ringing the bell at St. Jude on Dec. 4, just days before Ruston played in its fourth straight state title game.
Johnathan said his son returned for a follow-up in July and will go back again in October. For now, Jacob continues to undergo checkups every three months, with the hope that continued clear results will eventually allow those visits to be reduced to once a year.
But getting healthy was only part of Jacob’s goal.
Getting back to football was the other.
And when Brantley returned, something else changed. Friday night, No. 95 was gone. Jacob now wears No. 43.
“I just needed something new,” Jacob said. “I needed a new number, you know? A new start.”
The change speaks to Jacob’s mindset. He doesn’t want sympathy. He simply wants to play football.
“Even when he was going through what he was going through, if you didn’t know, you didn’t know,” Johnathan said. “He didn’t feel sorry for himself. Whatever he had to do to get back out here with his teammates, that’s what he was trying to do.”
Baugh believes what Jacob endured has given him a perspective few high school football players possess.
“It really does put the game of football in perspective,” Baugh said. “It should for players. I know it does for me, for coaches, just how fortunate we are to be able to have the opportunity to be out here and enjoy doing something that we all enjoy.
“I think he goes out to practice every day and puts it on the line. I think he, more so than anybody else, understands what could be taken away. I think he cherishes every practice, every minute he’s got out there. I think it’s just really, really special.”
