Northwood's Brody Waddle has been a four-year workhorse and TD machine (copy)
Many would be-tacklers have had trouble keeping Northwood's Brody Waddle out of the end zone.
Northwood's Brody Waddle catches a pass against Chilhowie on Friday night.
Brody Waddle’s first touchdown for the Northwood Panthers came in the third game of his freshman season against the Eastern Montgomery Mustangs.
“I remember I had to break two or three tackles to get in,” Waddle said. “But I was excited that I found the end zone for the first time.”
He’s made frequent trips to paydirt since that initial score in 2023 and in fact, nobody in a Northwood uniform has ever visited the end zone more times than Waddle.
A 5-yard score late in the second quarter of Northwood’s 42-13 win over Castlewood last week was career TD No. 41 and moved him ahead of Bo Buchanan for the top spot in that category in the program’s record book.
Buchanan played at Northwood from 1996-99 and later became a NAIA All-American linebacker at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky.
“Having the touchdown record means a lot to me,” Waddle said. “There have been a lot of good football players at Northwood, so to hold the record just feels like the hard work is paying off.”
Waddle has run behind a retinue of offensive lineman, taken handoffs from a few different quarterbacks and shared the backfield with some talented teammates.
He's sprinted past and spun away from defenders, powered and plunged his way across the goal line, carried, crushed and pushed aside would-be tacklers in scoring another six-pointer.
Waddle's relentless running has also helped Northwood transform from also-ran to contender.
As a ninth grader he was on a team that won one game.
Last year the Panthers finished with a 7-4 record as they secured the program’s first winning record and playoff berth since 2015.
Through it all, Waddle has been consistent and durable.
At 6-foot-5, 225-pounds is not brought down easily.
When not toting the pigskin, he has unleashed hits on other ballcarriers as a linebacker.
“Brody's reliability speaks for itself,” said Northwood coach Greg Prater. “He almost never comes off the field, playing both offense, defense, and being on all special teams. We do occasionally have to give him a breather from time to time, but to say he is a workhorse for the program is an understatement.”
While he made an immediate impact as a freshman, Waddle wasn’t satisfied and has upped his game each season.
“I feel like I’ve gotten more physical, stronger, better vision, faster and being a leader more and more each year,” Waddle said. “I approach games with trust in my O-Line and my other teammates. We just stick to the gameplan and give it all we got.”
Waddle is what you would call country strong.
“He works on his family's farm in Rich Valley,” Prater said. “There were many days he would spend all day doing farm work and still show up to weightlifting, 7-on-7s and multiple summer camps.”
He's also a talented basketball and baseball player.
Three touchdowns from Waddle highlighted that win over Castlewood last week as the Panthers rebounded from a 56-22 loss to unbeaten Chilhowie the week before.
"Waddle runs the ball strong and is quick for his size," said Castlewood coach Cody Smith.
Waddle will try to tack on some more TDs to his tally on Friday as Northwood (4-1) visits Auburn (5-1) in an important non-district clash.
Of course, Auburn coach Scott Mikowicz knows the word on Waddle.
“Huge kid. Great athlete,” Mikowicz said. “They move him all over the field. Best player we have went against so far this season. Very good defensive player as well.”
Waddle could own a few more Northwood records by the time it is all said and done, but until then he’ll take the handoff and head toward the end zone as he looks to power the Panthers to a victory.
“The thing that I’m most proud of is that every year we continue to get better and our record has showed that,” Waddle said. “We will keep working hard and getting better to finish out rest of the season.”
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Northwood's Brody Waddle totes the pigskin vs. Castlewood
