By Kenton Brooks
Phoenix Sports Writer
October 08, 2006 12:55 am
—
The news with Rell Lewis was a little better Saturday.
Dr. Jack Weaver, the Muskogee High School team doctor, said the Roughers’ quarterback has a torn medial collateral ligament and not the anterior cruciate ligament as previously feared.
“I don’t think his season is over,” Weaver said after meeting with MHS coach Matt Hennesy. “It’ll be game-to-game. I’m more encouraged what I saw (on the X-rays Saturday). I think he’ll be back. It’s a matter of how quickly he heals.”
Lewis injured the knee on the opening kickoff in the Roughers’ 28-3 road loss to Jenks in the District 6A-4 clash.
For Lewis, it’s the second injury to the same knee that he tore his ACL when he was a sophomore.
A day after the latest injury, Hennesy was not second-guessing his decision to use Lewis on the kickoff.
“I’m not going to change my mind,” he said. “I said before the season that we were going to play this season to win a state championship. If you want to say (Lewis shouldn’t be on the kickoff), then why is Jameel (Owens) back there on every kickoff and punt returns. Nobody says a word about that.
“You put your best players on the field and try to go win the game. I don’t think this team was called the Rell Lewis Roughers. I love him to death and of course it hurts when he goes out. It would hurt if (offensive-defensive lineman) Jeffery Thompson or (linebacker) Jarryd Horn got hurt.”
Hennesy said he met with his team for about 30 minutes after returning to Muskogee. He said they were mad because they lost the game that dropped their record to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in district.
“I didn’t see despair or ‘Oh my gosh, the season’s down the drain,’” the MHS coach said. “I told them, ‘If you don’t think we have a chance to win a state championship, get your schedule changed and don’t come back. If you think we can win a state championship, then I will see you Monday and we’ll go to work.’
“The team will be fine. When it first happened, everybody goes down. There’s no way not to, but we’ve just got to pick it up.”
Also, running back Dre Stout sprained his ankle and linebacker Braxton Owens broke his wrist against Jenks, but both are expected to play in the next game.
Owens, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior, takes over at quarterback. He struggled against Jenks, passing for 25 yards and rushing for minus-46 yards. He was sacked four times.
Hennesy, though, remains optimistic about Owens playing the position.
“Obviously, we’ll have to scrap the stuff just for Rell and come up with more stuff for Jameel,” Hennesy said. “He’s a great athlete and leader. Once we go through a week of practice and Jameel will look sharp and do good things, (Lewis being out) won’t be an issue. We can still win big next week.”
The Roughers host Sapulpa Friday. Hennesy is confident the team will respond positively.
“Our motto now is the strength of the pack is in the wolf and the strength of the wolf is in the pack,” he said. “Knowing the character of our kids and the tenacity and character of our coaches, our team’s going to come together. This will pull us together more.”
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