A Budd-ing relationship

Twyman’s new No. 1 target isn’t so new to him

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo charlie shoemaker⁄the gazette Sherwood junior Dominique Budd makes a move on Springbrook’s Carlo Galeano during Saturday’s season opener. Budd caught four passes for 104 yards and a TD.

‘‘The corner [Oates] just bit on the fake, and my quarterback looked at me,” Budd said. ‘‘I gave him a little stop-and-go.”

Standing nearby, Warrior senior Deontay Twyman wasn’t going to let Budd get away with that. Laughing, the 2005 All-Gazette first-team quarterback gives his version of events.

‘‘I gave him the stop-and-go on the fake,” Twyman corrected.

Budd eventually concedes that it was probably Twyman’s pump-fake that caught Oates, but it doesn’t really matter. The point is that Budd was a couple of acres behind the Springbrook defense when Twyman, rolling left, hit him for a 66-yard touchdown strike midway through the second quarter of what would become a 33-0 Sherwood victory. After a series of slants, hooks, outs and off-tackle runs, the Warriors finally went for the jugular, and scored a direct hit.

It should come as no surprise that Budd was the weapon of choice for Sherwood (1-0 overall, 1-0 in the Montgomery 4A East Division). He spent his sophomore season as a kick returner, defensive back and part-time receiver behind senior starters Ben Everett and Eric Morales. When Twyman’s favorite targets of a season ago moved on, Budd was the heir apparent.

The chemistry between the two also shouldn’t come as a surprise. Coming into this season, Budd’s big claim to fame was that he was Twyman’s first cousin.

‘‘I have to follow in his footsteps, you know?” Budd said. ‘‘He’s a good person to look up to.”

There’s no physical resemblance between the two, unless it’s the braided hair peeking out from under their helmets. And there doesn’t seem to be any supernatural understanding between the cousins. But it didn’t take a whole lot of preseason work together for them to develop a connection.

Twyman and Budd have played together — and won championships together — from the youth leagues on up. Twyman has always been Budd’s quarterback, with the exception of 2004, when Twyman was a sophomore on varsity and Budd a freshman.

‘‘We’ve got a lot of chemistry together from me throwing to him in little league,” Twyman said. ‘‘Now, with him becoming one of my No. 1 receivers, it’s easy for me to know what he’s going to do.”

Not that Budd is Twyman’s only option. The all-everything senior began his final high school campaign by connecting on 15 of 20 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns. He found junior Nick Koutsos in the end zone twice, and hit tight end Carter Willson four times for 60 yards.

Budd also caught four passes, with the 66-yard touchdown contributing the lion’s share of his 104 yards. He may not have gotten behind Oates without Twyman’s help, but he still had work to do. The ball hung in the air, allowing Oates to recover and get between Budd and the end zone. Budd took a step right, then one to the left, and another back to the right. Oates bit on the second fake, allowing Budd to race around him for the final 15 yards.

That was the low point in a disappointing game for Springbrook (0-1, 0-1 4A East), especially on the defensive side of the ball. Sophomore quarterback Phoenix Bulter-Poole was an efficient 8 for 14 in his first varsity start, but Twyman and his receivers exposed a veteran Blue Devils secondary.

‘‘We were confused out there,” Springbrook coach Rob Wendel said. ‘‘Maybe I overcoached this week; I didn’t let the kids play. And you certainly can’t do that against a good player like Twyman. We were out of position a lot. We have our entire defensive backfield back, and they just got torched, so there’s no excuse there.”