People often do a double-take when they hear Dream Horton’s name.
His play on the football field is getting a similar reaction.
Horton ran kickoffs back 75 and 70 yards for touchdowns on Aug. 28 to highlight Curie’s 46-6 season-opening win over Johnson at Rockne Stadium.
Gabriel Taylor, Malik Horton, Darius Townsel and Vince Willams all ran for touchdowns for the Condors, who led 38-0 at halftime. The second half was played with a running clock and Curie didn’t run a play on offense after halftime until a pair of kneel-downs to end the game.
As far as Dream Horton is concerned, yes, that is his given name.
“Everybody asks the same thing,” he said of his distinctive first name. “I love my name, a lot of people love it. When I say my name’s Dream, they don’t even believe me. They think I’m joking. … Like, ‘My name’s Dream, want to see my ID?'”
The speedy 6-2, 170-pound sophomore’s game is no joke, however. He brings added flair and another playmaker to a team coming off a 5-5 season and Class 8A playoff berth.
“My mentality when I first came in the game was to don’t look back, keep going,” Horton said.
Curie coach Jarve Lewis-Bey has high hopes for Horton.
“Very athletic, good football instincts, a good kid,” Lewis-Bey said. “He has good vision and so by being, like I said, a smart football player, he just plays his blocks well. But yeah, (he’s) got exceptional speed as well.”
Taylor is now a teammate of Horton in football and basketball, but hadn’t seen him play football in person before the opener. He was impressed by what he saw.
“On the basketball team, (he) still shows out,” Taylor said. “He still has that swagger to him, that confidence, where as soon as he steps on the court or the field, he’s that guy.”
Taylor also is that guy as a senior taking over as the Condors’ starting quarterback.
“Gabe has actually been planning on this,” Lewis-Bey said. “He was waiting last year, but he had to wait his turn. And so he put in a lot of hard work this summer and it’s gonna show off.”
Taylor likes being surrounded by offensive talent.
“Definitely got more playmakers this year,” Taylor said. “Not disregarding the people who played last year, great athletes. But we just have more key pieces. We have people who are designated to spots now. We don’t have to keep switching around.”