ST PAUL, Minn. — Every scar has a story.
“My knee just gave out and I just fell on the ground, and that's when we knew something was wrong," said St. Croix Lutheran quarterback Marco Antonio.
Some chapters more painful than others.
"And my knee just popped. And I crumbled to the ground in pain. My meniscus just completely flipped when I tore it," said St. Croix Lutheran running back Tory Wollersheim.
This is St. Croix Lutheran head coach Adam Frey’s 12th season coaching high school football, and he’s never had one like last fall.
"It was something different, for sure. I had never seen that before and hopefully will never see that again…" said Frey. "It felt like we were in the Twilight Zone."
Coach Frey is being polite. What he and the Crusaders deal with from an injury point-of-view last season is straight out of a horror film. An injury list longer than one for your weekly Hy-Vee or Cub Foods trips.
"It started really in our first practices. So our first week, we had our receiver, Andrew, who tore his ACL for the second time. And Tory, one of our running backs, receivers, defensive backs, he tore his meniscus," said Frey.
Two season-ending injuries right out of the gates, and then Week 2 hit.
"So our quarterback tore his ACL and meniscus. We had a corner, who was a senior last year, who tore his ACL and meniscus in that game as well. Our running back broke his collar bone in that game," said Frey.
"You would think maybe one or two people would get injured, but for six to get injured, you'd never expect it. That's like something out of a movie or something," said Wollersheim.
Six season-ending injuries in total, four of those six being torn ACLs. Two of the six injuries occurring in the same household.
"So I'm Andrew Beekman. This is Matthew Beekman. We're both brothers. I'm a senior, he's a junior. I have torn my ACL twice, both in my left leg... I broke my collar bone twice last year," said St. Croix Lutheran linebacker Andrew Beekman.
You heard that right. Second ACL tear in as many years for Andrew, and Matthew breaking his collarbone not once, but twice!
“Week 2 was the first time I broke it. And then against the same team on the same field, I broke it again in our sectional championship," said St. Croix Lutheran running back Matthew Beekman.
Four of the six injured from last season are back and ready to go this fall, here’s to hoping this year’s story includes an ending that is happy...
"It really means a lot to be able to play now and I've been enjoying every single minute of it, every single minute of practice, it's been fun and I can't wait to go play on Friday night," said Beekman.
… And healthy
"I've been looking forward to this season for a long time. I could say the same thing about you, probably.... I'm definitely looking forward to this year, both of us being healthy and able to play is going to be a really special season," said Beekman.
The Crusaders managed to make the playoffs last season, despite the injuries. They open the 2023 season on Thursday against South St. Paul.
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