The rival game between the Craig Middle School Bulldogs and Steamboat Springs is always a big deal in this mountain town, but there was one play on Tuesday night that truly belongs on the highlight reels.
JP Price, 13, has always been part of the Bulldogs, but No. 44 has never really played. Price has muscular dystrophy and needs a wheelchair, but none of that mattered when he finally took the field … and scored his very first touchdown.
“They just gave me a helmet and said, ‘go’ and I went,” he said.
Price took the field during the second half. His younger brother, Tristian, snapped him the ball, and then he took off toward the end zone.
Needless to say, the crowd went wild. And Price got to do something he said he’d always wanted to do.
“It was cool,” he said. “After a while I started to cry because everyone was being so nice.”
Price said he didn't know that was going to happen until his mom told him on the way to the game. His Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Sara Linascum helped plan it all. She said everyone was in on it-- Steamboat Springs, the refs, and the coaches. Linascum said that moment was about more than just a touchdown. She said Price helped remind kids how lucky they are to step out on that field in the first place.
“JP is a great kid and I'm just so glad that all of us here in Craig know JP,” she said. “He's been a part of our lives, I thank him for being part of our football team. He's just a really special kid."
Linascum said in Craig, everyone is one big family. Last year, the community came together to help raise money to buy Price a track wheelchair to help him get around better. That support is what helps Price know he can do anything.
“If you want to play football, even though you're in a wheelchair, you can if you want,” he said,
The Bulldogs went on to win that game, but that’s not what many people will remember.
