Playing through pain

Rocky Mount High senior Carter Varnell and a few of his teammates watched tape of one of the program’s more memorable contests earlier this week.

The footage was of last season’s NCHSAA 3-A Eastern Regional final, a contest Rocky Mount lost to West Craven.

Though the outcome wasn’t in the team’s favor, the night was arguably Varnell’s best on a football field.

He finished with double digits in tackles, deflected a pair of passes and was as active as any Gryphon on the defensive side of the ball.

“I was hoping to start from there and improve this year,” Varnell said. “But stuff happens.”

Namely, injuries.

The Gryphons might not see the same type of results from Varnell, who is among the many high school football athletes who suffer serious injuries each season. Rocky Mount’s opponent tonight, Southern Nash, has had its share, too.

Both teams limped through junctures of the regular season. Southern Nash fared better in nonconference play, but it is tied with Rocky Mount for second place in the Big East Conference standings.

Firebirds and Gryphons have injured themselves in explainable and bizarre occurrences.

Both squads had players injured or miss games due to car accidents. Southern Nash senior offensive lineman Josh Brice broke a bone in one of his hands when he hit three horses while driving.

Opportunity has emerged from injury for both teams. In Rocky Mount’s case, Varnell, who suffered a torn left ACL this season, was replaced by classmate Aaron Barnes.

Barnes has played well as the leader of the linebackers corps. Barnes injured himself in a recent car accident, and Jeffery Henderson and Vadall Bailey played well enough as replacements to help the Gryphons beat Wilson Fike last week.

“Ultimately, if you can survive and get through it, it makes you stronger,” Gryphons coach Dickie Schock said.

Southern Nash discovered a starting running back in Week 1 due to unfortunate circumstances.

The top two Firebirds running backs suffered from injury and leg cramps early in the game against Franklinton.

Southern Nash coach Brian Foster inserted sophomore Terron Huffman into the lineup, and more than 600 yards and seven touchdowns later, the move proved to be beneficial.

“We had no idea he’d be starting for us on varsity,” Foster said of Huffman. “He was one of our better junior varsity players. He was the next best option. He’s made it his ever since.”

The injury report for the Firebirds and Gryphons have fewer names for tonight’s game than it might have had a few weeks ago.

Varnell returned to practice last week with a brace to stabilize his knee.

He said he wants to do anything he can to help the team, even if it involves being used as a place-holder.

It beats holding a clipboard and taking stats, which is something most players do while injured.

“Watching is just killing me,” Varnell said. “It’s hard. Especially to lose a couple games, it makes it even harder.”

There are success stories, too. Gryphons tight end Spencer Bell broke his collarbone in the season-opener. He scored his first touchdown of the season last week, a play he envisioned for himself as an important piece to the Gryphons’ offense.

“It meant a lot to me,” Bell said. “The week before I dropped two passes against Hunt that I should have caught. They told me I wasn’t back yet. After the catch, everyone was like, ‘Now you’re back.’”

Ultimately, the decision is up to the players and their bodies. Schock and Foster said they try to keep injured players involved in the program, but they do not push a player to return to the field before he is ready.

“You want to win football games,” Foster said. “But you don’t want to put a kid’s career in jeopardy to do it.”

Jessie H. Nunery can be reached at 407-9951 or jhnunery@coxnc.com