Magical moment. (The Goodness of America).

Jake Porter, 17, is a senior at Northwest High School in McDermott, Ohio, a city of about 3,000 near the Kentucky border. He was born with chromosomal fragile X syndrome, a genetic malady that causes mental retardation. Despite the disability, he has earned a reputation for persistence in striving to achieve his goals, especially in the sports that he loves.

Track is his favorite sport, but he is also a member of the school's basketball team, and during three years on the football squad he suited up for every game and never missed a practice. Dave Frantz, Northwest's head football coach, describes him as "a pretty special kid" who "rewards us daily just by being around us.... He makes everybody's day."

Due to his condition, Jake could not participate in contact drills. Indeed, until last October he never carried a ball during a game, though on one occasion last year Coach Frantz, knowing that having the chance to simply touch the ball would be a thrill for him, sent Jake in for one play to "take a knee" (drop to a knee to end the play after receiving the ball).

Northwest's record this year was a rather dismal 3-7, including its final home game on October 18th against heavily favored Waverly High School. Waverly was headed for the state playoffs for only the second time in 100 years under the tutelage of Coach Derek DeWitt. A few days prior to the game, coach Frantz contacted his rival to suggest that, if the contest turned out to be as lopsided as expected, Jake be allowed to safely take another knee on a play. Coach DeWitt readily agreed.

On game day, the visiting Northwest team arrived early, giving DeWitt a chance to meet Jake, whom he found to be "a wonderful kid." The game went as expected, and with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter Waverly led 42 to 0. Northwest had the ball on Waverly's 49-yard line when Coach Frantz called timeout so he and Coach DeWitt could meet at midfield to discuss the final play and make sure they were on the same wavelength. But as DeWitt was walking back to the sideline, he began to feel uneasy about the arrangement. So he called a timeout and returned to midfield to inform Frantz that Jake would do more than touch the ball; he would score a touchdown. As described by Tim Ellsworth, a columnist for web-based BP Sports, "At first, Frantz objected. Waverly had played a good game, and Frantz didn't want to spoil his opponent's shutout. But DeWitt insisted. 'The shutout is not important,' DeWitt told Frantz. 'There's something bigger ...