Jacob Darrow being recruited out of Severn School to play lacrosse at the Naval Academy was remarkable. His development into being a starter on close defense may be even more improbable.
A decade ago, Darrow, was barely able to play lacrosse at the youth level and was nowhere near being considered a college prospect. During the fall season of club lacrosse in seventh grade, Darrow was struggling out on the field. He was suffering constant stomach pain, had very little energy and was not performing well due to overall listlessness.
Things got so serious that doctors decided to do some testing and discovered that Darrow had a tumor in his abdomen. A subsequent biopsy in January 2015 determined the youngster had non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Darrow withdrew from Severn to undergo nine months of chemotherapy. The Millersville resident was declared cancer-free in August of that year.
“It was certainly a surreal experience. You hear about cancer and never think it can happen to you, then all of a sudden it hits you head on,” Darrow said. “Not being able to play sports with my closest friends was really tough. Not having the social aspects of being in school and being part of teams was really difficult.”
Darrow had been a member of the Annapolis Hawks 2021 B team as a seventh grader. Following the battle with cancer, Darrow repeated seventh grade and rejoined the Hawks, albeit in a very limited role.
“Jacob was part of the team, but did not play very much. There were some days when he did not wear equipment for practice because he was not up to participating,” said Eddie McKinnon, an assistant coach for the Hawks.
Darrow remembers barely making it through tryouts and is grateful the coaching staff was understanding and supportive of his situation. At a time when most boys his age were getting stronger and faster, Darrow returned to the field weaker and slower.
“I was fortunate to have some great coaches that uplifted me and helped me get back in the swing of things. I really credit the Hawks for sticking with me,” said Darrow, who remained a member of the B team for three more seasons.
When Darrow was a sophomore, the Hawks decided to only field an A team for the 2021 graduation year. He was one of only two players from the B team brought up to the A team and showed flashes as a reserve defenseman.
It marked a major turning point in Darrow’s development and he wound up making the Severn varsity as a sophomore and starting every game on close defense.
“Seeing that I could compete against the best attackmen in the MIAA A Conference gave me a lot of confidence,” Darrow said.
That became very evident to McKinnon and Hawks 2021 head coach Jon Brianas, himself a cancer survivor. Darrow suddenly transformed into the team’s No. 1 defenseman and was playing with a completely different mindset.
“We were like ‘Wow! Jacob Darrow is a beast.’ He turned into a man overnight and was playing really tough and aggressive,” McKinnon recalled.
While impressed by the dramatic strides Darrow made, McKinnon still considered him a Division III recruit. He was somewhat surprised when Darrow expressed a desire to play lacrosse at the Naval Academy, but cared enough about the young man to try to help make that dream a reality.
McKinnon put his own reputation on the line by calling Navy coach Joe Amplo and urging him to at least scout Darrow. McKinnon was truthful with Amplo, saying he wasn’t sure Darrow would ever become a key contributor, but insisting the youngster was the type of player Navy wanted on the roster.
“Shout out to Coach Eddie because I don’t know if I would be here without him. He never once stopped believing in me,” Darrow said this week.
Amplo agreed that McKinnon deserves all the credit for Darrow becoming a Midshipmen. While initially not impressed with Darrow’s overall athleticism, over time Amplo became enamored with the intangibles he possessed.
“The more I scouted Jacob and studied his game, the more I realized that he was a really smart lacrosse player that understood how to play within the team concept,” Amplo said.
Amplo was hopeful Darrow could eventually develop into the team’s fifth or sixth close defenseman, and that was the apparent trajectory after he served on the scout team as a freshman and sophomore.
However, Darrow earned notice from the coaching staff for his work on the wing of faceoffs with the scout team. He used strong instincts, superb stickwork and guile to repeatedly come up with the ground ball.
Making his mark
As a junior, Darrow was given the opportunity to get into games as the wing on faceoffs and acquitted himself well. Due to multiple injuries, Darrow suddenly found himself as the team’s No. 2 long stick midfielder and made the most of his increased playing time.
Along the way, Amplo and defensive coordinator Jon Orsen realized that Darrow had his own unique superpowers.
“Whereas Jacob may be deficient athletically relative to some of his teammates, he’s so far beyond those guys in terms of his lacrosse IQ and that makes a major difference,” Amplo said. “The ability to play with headiness, calmness and confidence is as great a skill as being big, fast and strong. Jacob has proven he can survive and thrive at this level even though he might not be the most physically gifted guy out on the field.”
Darrow was slated to be part of the long stick midfield rotation again this season until one cold day in mid-January during an early preseason practice. Amplo and Orsen were reviewing the practice tape and noticed Darrow serving as the primary communicator.
That eye-opening experience necessitated Darrow being moved to close defense.
“We felt we needed more leadership, steadiness and calmness on close defense,” Amplo said. “Jacob emerged as someone who could run the system and direct the team defense. He was the glue we needed down low.”
Darrow has indeed excelled as the defensive quarterback primarily playing inside. While known for playing fundamentally sound position defense, the 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior has also displayed tremendous stickwork in leading Navy with 14 caused turnovers.
“That’s remarkable for that kid and is all lacrosse IQ. He’s not a takeaway guy who is going to come hunt you down,” Amplo said. “That’s Jacob always being in the right spot and making the right play.”
Orsen described Darrow as a coach on the field whose communication skills are off the chart. Darrow is very adept at playing the angles and is careful not to put himself in position to get beat.
“There are a lot of things you just can’t teach and Jacob has all those intangible qualities,” Orsen said. “We need Jacob Darrow out on the field at all times because he does such a great job of directing traffic. He’s an extension of the coaching staff.”
At the heart of this success story is a youngster who, while unassuming, always possessed an inner confidence. Even while a member of the scout team, Darrow practiced as though he was a starter saying, “I was determined to be ready whenever my number got called.”
“I always made sure I had the best stick of any defenseman on the team to make up for any physical shortcomings,” he said. “I also take pride in being the smartest defenseman on the field. That’s the strength of my game. I’m always one or two plays ahead of the offensive players. I know what they’re going to do before they do it.”
Darrow will be commissioned as a surface warfare officer and has already been assigned to the Mesa Verde, an amphibious assault ship based out of Virginia Beach.
Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.
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