Game brings former Laney player home

SAVANNAH, Ga. --- When Savannah State football player LaDarien Redfield was 11 years old, the Augusta native and Laney graduate and his buddies discovered a unique yet dangerous way to beat boredom.

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LaDarien Redfield, a center at Laney in 2005, is now a defensive end for Savannah State, which plays in Augusta on Saturday.

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LaDarien Redfield, shown in 2004 during his junior year at Laney High School, tried to gain yardage after he recovered a fumble against Greater Atlanta Christian at then-ARC Stadium.

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"The neighborhood I lived in, there were a bunch of abandoned houses and me and a couple of friends used to always go and climb up on the roofs of houses," he said. "There was this one house that we never got on top of and we always wanted to get up there. We were trying to find a way to get on top of the house."

Unfortunately, that story doesn't end here. One day, one of Redfield's friends found a way to climb atop the house.

Despite being a large child, Redfield was athletic and competitive. If his buddy could make it on top of that roof, then he was going to prove he could, too.

"He was holding my hand, trying to pull me up," the 6-foot-1, 259-pound junior said, laughing at the memory, "and instead of him pulling me on top of the house, I ended up pulling him off of the house because I was heavier than him. Both of us went flying.

"It hurt. It was a long drop. I was falling backward and somehow I spun around in the air and fell on my stomach. Knocked all the breath out of me."

Fortunately, Redfield was not seriously injured -- like the time he jumped from a swing and broke one of his arms, or the time he flipped off his bicycle and ripped open his chin.

"I got in a lot of accidents when I was younger," he said. "I messed my body up so much when I was younger."

These days, Redfield thrives on throwing his body around the football field with reckless abandon. As a starting defensive end, his mission is to shed the block of an offensive lineman and get into the backfield as quickly as possible to wreak havoc on the quarterback or running back.

"I enjoy being physical, even when I get hurt," he said. "I fight through the pain. I really don't like going to the training room to get treatment, even when I do get hurt. I just try to fight through the pain."

Through three games he has made 14 tackles, including a team-high four for minus-21 yards and a team-high three sacks. He has forced two fumbles and recovered two fumbles.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, Redfield returns to Augusta to play for the first time at David Dupree Field at Lucy C. Laney Memorial Stadium, which wasn't built when Redfield was at Laney.

Savannah State (1-2) plays Concordia (0-3) in the Southern Georgia Heritage Classic.

"I'm super-excited because I get to go back home and play in front of my family and friends," he said. "A lot of people haven't seen me play yet. As soon as I saw (the schedule), I picked up my phone and texted people to let them know we're coming."

At Laney, Redfield was an offensive lineman. He was an all-region selection in 2006 and 2005 as a center, and colleges recruited him to play on the offensive line.

But, as Redfield said, "Playing O-line, you don't get no glory. Playing D-line, you get to be in the spotlight."

When former coach Theo Lemon and his assistants offered Redfield a scholarship as a defensive lineman, they received an answer immediately.

"That's what I wanted to do," Redfield said. "That was my opportunity, so I took it."

Second-year head coach Robby Wells is glad Redfield is on defense.

"LaDarien has been a leader on that defensive front," Wells said. "All the kids look up to him. He's one of the better players that we've got on this football team."

Wells said Redfield excels at disrupting opposing offenses.

"It's demoralizing to an offense when you've got a defensive lineman that's always back there (in the backfield), basically harassing that quarterback," Wells said.