Daily News-Record

D.D. Boxley made sure he was there for an old friend in a time of need last Thursday.

And then 58 hours later, Boxley made a whole lot of new friends, catching the game-winning touchdown pass for James Madison's football team in a 23-20 victory over Hofstra.

"He makes big plays when they have to happen," JMU tackle David Weedon, also a high school teammate of Boxley, said Monday.

Weedon paused, then smiled.

"Just like Saturday," he said.

But Boxley's most emotional moment of the week came two days before the Hofstra game.

Derone "D.D." Boxley became close friends with Carlos Allen when the two were teammates on the King George High School football team.

After games, Boxley would catch a ride to Carlos' house from Allen's parents and often spend the night.

So there was little doubt in Boxley's mind, where he needed to be last Thursday when Allen's older sister, Sacha, was being buried.

"Everybody came back," Boxley, a redshirt freshman wide receiver, said. "Everybody was there. We all grew up together. Since elementary school, we became best friends. We stuck together all the way through."

Sacha Allen, 22, died Sunday, Sept. 14, in a car accident in King George County, and Boxley - like most of his former high school teammates - made the trip back home for the funeral Thursday morning.

"It was kind of rough on everybody," said Weeton, who also attended the service. "Some things, you've got to work through. I'm sure it stuck in his mind, but he still had a good game."

Boxley traveled nearly three hours out of loyalty to his old friend and former teammate, then got back in his car and traveled the same distance back to Harrisonburg, out of loyalty to his new friends and teammates.

"He thought it was that important to make football practice," JMU coach Mickey Matthews said Monday. "I didn't ask him to. I would've excused him if he asked me, but he didn't ask me to. He said, 'Coach, I'll be back.'"

It wasn't easy to focus at practice, Boxley admitted. He said he dropped a kickoff that "scared" him.

"It worried me a little bit," said Boxley. "But Coach Matthews told me to just calm down, relax."

Teammates noticed Boxley wasn't as sharp as usual, understandably so.

"When you're in that type of situation, you expect a guy's mind to be a little, I mean, we're only 18, 19, 20 years old," junior quarterback Matt LeZotte said. "He dealt with it well and he refocused as he went onto the weekend."

Boxley said he didn't fully recover his confidence until fielding all the kicks and passes he took in pre-game warm-ups.

Then in the third quarter, with JMU trying to fight back from an early deficit against Hofstra, LeZotte dropped back and flung a long pass Boxley's way. The speedy, 5-foot-8 receiver out-raced the Pride cornerback and stretched out his arms.

Then he dropped the ball.

"We needed that big play," Boxley said. "That's the type of play I have to make out there. I was just praying I got another chance to make another play out there."

Redemption took the form of a 32-yard LeZotte pass on a fly rout up the right sideline with 54 seconds to play and JMU down by four. Boxley, who was being covered downfield by a safety, adjusted to the ball placed perfectly to his inside, fended off the defender, and cradled it in his arms for his first collegiate touchdown.

It gave Madison the win and Boxley back all his confidence.

But the play didn't surprise Weeton one bit.

After all, he had seen Boxley score a touchdown on a long post route with 40 seconds to go to pull King George within a point in the regional final against Lafayette their senior year.

King George opted to go for two and the win, and its quarterback was stopped at the goal line - ironically - by current Dukes defensive end Brendan Summers.

Boxley's clutch performance still sticks in Weeton's memory. And Summers'. And Matthews' -- who was at the game scouting all three.

Weeton was on the basketball court later that year when Boxley scored 21 points - including a 6-for-7 showing from beyond the 3-point line - to lift King George to an upset win in the regional semifinals.

It surely sticks in the memory of Carlos Allen. Allen was a two-year starter on the King George football and basketball teams. The 6-3, 270-pound defensive lineman redshirted at Towson last year.

When Boxley went home during Madison's bye week two weekends ago, he stopped by Allen's home, where he had spent so many nights in high school.

"Me and Carlos, after games, I didn't have a ride home, so I would go over to his house," Boxley said. "Half the time, I would end up spending the night over there. That's how we became real close. We talked about everything."

On this visit, Carlos wasn't there, but Sacha, a new mother of baby Tyasia, was.

She died 24 hours later, while Boxley was driving back to Harrisonburg.

Boxley's touchdown catch may have saved James Madison's season on Saturday, but he had already shown all the heart in the world long before he took the field.
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