Teen with autism makes catch of a lifetime

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018

SALUDA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) -- Any other night, this would just be just a normal late touchdown pass. On this Friday night in Monetta, this was anything but.

Cheers erupting from the stands, as Saluda's Fulton Winn was on the receiving end of the catch of a lifetime. You see, Winn has autism.

"It's just one of the things I've been wanting to do since I started playing football...catch a touchdown pass, and it came true," Winn said.

"It had gotten to a point where we were kind of playing everybody. I said make sure everybody's in the game. Is Fully in? Yeah, he's in. One of the coaches on the offensive side said, you want to try to give him the ball? I said well let's throw a little spotter out, a little quick pass." Coach Stewart Young said

He doesn't get to play very often. Last Friday, when he got a chance to get out on the field and compete. He made sure to make the most of his opportunity.

"I kind of had faith in him. When the coaches told me to go tell Fully that we're going to throw the fade ball to him," Madison Williams said. "I went to the huddle. Told him I was throwing the fade ball to him and he had a big kool-aid smile on his face."

"When that ball was thrown, I just, I had a make a play. I just gave it all I got," Winn said.

From the stands to the field, that single play had everyone overcome with emotion.

"It was so awesome. Our team went nuts. They ran, we got a 15-yard penalty. They ran to the end zone and just hounded him in the back of the end zone. It was really, really special," Young said.

A special moment that Winn and the Saluda community won't soon forget.