NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Earle High School is in an Arkansas town of less than 2,000 people, roughly 30 miles west of Memphis. The drive to the Vanderbilt campus clocks in at about four hours.
Montgomery Bell Academy is a mere 2.1 miles from FirstBank Stadium, straight down West End Avenue. Depending on traffic, about a 5-10 minute drive or a brisk 45-minute walk.
On Saturday at seventh-ranked Missouri, products of those two schools scored their first collegiate touchdowns for Vanderbilt.
Joseph McVay was a four-star recruit out of Earle High School. A multi-sport athlete, McVay excelled in both basketball and track and field while earning a spot on the 2023 Freaks List from 247Sports. On the football field, McVay played both sides of the ball and was an all-state selection by the Arkansas High School Coaches Association.
His prowess resulted in offers from schools including Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina and Texas A&M, as well as Vanderbilt. He was ranked among the top-10 players in the state by 247Sports, Rivals, On3 and ESPN.
While McVay knew college football was in his future, Gabe Fisher was intending to wrestle collegiately entering the spring of his senior year at Montgomery Bell Academy. While he was an all-state selection in both football and wrestling, he was a three-time state champion and four-time high school All-American on the mat.
Fisher’s dad and grandfather had both played football in the SEC, but Gabe was headed to the University of Virginia to wrestle for the five-time ACC champion Cavaliers. In April, it was Fisher’s mom, Rosemary, who encouraged him to wait it out on football.
Eventually, a visit came from another Montgomery Bell Academy product in Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea. Fisher decided to make the short trip down West End Ave. and join the Commodores as a fullback/tight end, mirroring Lea’s path from MBA to Vandy fullback.
Despite their different paths to Vandy, McVay and Fisher caught touchdown passes to bookend Vanderbilt’s scoring in the double-overtime setback to the Tigers last week.
McVay opened the scoring in Columbia, catching a 65-yard touchdown pass from Diego Pavia on Vanderbilt’s second drive of the game.
“We had been talking about when that play was going to come and the coaches said ‘Joe, you gotta go on this play. You go and it’s going to be a touchdown,’” McVay said.
In the process of the play, McVay briefly thought the opportunity was over before it began.
“When I looked up, I thought Diego had been sacked,” he explained. “Then I looked up and it felt like the ball was in the air for a bit. But when I looked up and saw it coming, I knew it was a touchdown.”
In thinking about the moment, McVay had always dreamed about how he might celebrate his first collegiate touchdown while engaging the crowd. The problem was he never planned for it to come on the road.
“I was caught a little off guard thinking that we’re in an away game,” McVay said. “I was always hoping the crowd would be really excited, but we’re not at Vanderbilt and it got real quiet. I got a little shy and just stood and looked at the crowd.”
Fisher’s touchdown came on the back end of the game, giving Vanderbilt a lead on the first overtime possession.
Like McVay, Fisher knew there was a play call just for him.
“We’d practiced it and the coaches kept saying they were saving it for bigger things,” Fisher said. “I knew it was going to come on that drive and started throwing with Kamrean Johnson on the sideline.”
With the Commodores looking to strike first in overtime and the ball on the two-yard line, Fisher’s number was called.
“When it was called I thought ‘Oh, gosh. Here we go.’ But I just calmed myself down,” Fisher said. “I usually don’t catch passes, I’m more of a blocking fullback, so at first my heart was racing but I thought ‘Alright, you have to calm down or you’re going to drop it and you won’t get that play called again.’”
Pavia took the snap and faked a handoff to the running back as Fisher released toward the pylon, turning to catch the pass.
“I was really just focused on not dropping it,” Fisher explained. “That’s why I caught it with my chest. You have to secure that thing.”
As a two-way lineman in high school, it was Fisher’s first offensive play handling the football since middle school.
“That was my first ball caught in high school or college,” Fisher added. “The only offensive ball-catching came in middle school where I was also a fullback.”
In the head coach’s playing days, Lea made three receptions for 39 yards while adding nine rushes for 20 yards during his career, but never found the end zone. Regardless, Fisher appreciated the full circle moment of Vanderbilt scoring on a pass to the fullback.
“It’s really special,” Fisher said. “We went to the same school and it’s just so awesome to see how I ended up here (playing for Coach Lea) after I was going to wrestle in college. Instead, I’m playing football, in my hometown, at Vanderbilt.”
All because his mom convinced him to wait.
“I was dead-set on wrestling, but I had to listen to my mom.”
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McVay, Fisher and the rest of the Commodores return to action on Oct. 5 when fourth-ranked Alabama visits FirstBank Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network and 94.9 The Fan.
