Post by admin on Dec 21, 2008 16:41:35 GMT -5
highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/238640260/monmouth-county-high-school-football-review/
Monmouth County high school football review
The Star-Ledger, December 21, 2008 10:41 a.m.
Player of the year: A career-threatening injury such as a shattered vertebrae can lead to a second opinion by a specialist. The second examination Freehold Borough’s Nick Tyson received eight weeks later was performed by the same doctor, but with a remarkably different prognosis.
Tyson, playing for Marlboro High at the time, had been carted off the field on a stretcher, Sept. 20, 2007, after breaking his neck making a tackle. The spinal expert recommended surgery that would have ended his football career. But after wearing a neck brace for two months, the same doctor told Tyson that his spine was stabilizing and surgery would not be needed.
‘‘I was lucky I was still walking,’’ Tyson said. ‘‘I wore a horse collar and, luckily, everything healed itself. It’s really crazy how things turned out.’’
That was just the beginning of Tyson’s incredible comeback. Less than three months after he sustained the injury, Tyson was cleared to play football again. While he was healing, his parents had moved from Marlboro to Freehold Borough, where he started over with a new team.
‘‘I can’t explain how the kids on this team took me in from the beginning, like I was always there,’’ Tyson said. ‘‘To me, that was kind of shocking. I’m very happy. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’’
Tyson’s arrival at Freehold Borough seemed like it was destined to be as the senior took over at quarterback and led the school to its first state championship. The banner campaign included not one, but two victories over perennial power Middletown South.
‘‘Nick could do everything,’’ Freehold coach Mark Ciccotelli said. ‘‘He could coach the team. He’s a successful human being, first and foremost. After all the adversity he has been through, he was a success at anything he did for us.
‘‘Players like him are few and far between. It’s like coaching a college player. He would sit in the meetings. He really understood what we were trying to accomplish.’’
Tyson ran Freehold Borough’s option attack to perfection, passing for 1,105 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushing for 693 yards and 10 TDs. His two touchdown runs in the first quarter of the Central Jersey, Group 3 title game against Middletown South was the impetus behind the 21-14 triumph.
‘‘Nick is a tough guy,’’ Ciccotelli said. ‘‘We never worried about him passing or running or managing a game. He’s just the whole package. Most of all, it is his toughness. Any time we had the game on the line, his was the number we wanted to call.’’
Before he got to play a down on the varsity, Tyson had to prove to himself he could handle the contact.
‘‘I wondered about the amount of hits I could take,’’ said Tyson, who is considering Delaware and Fordham as his next stop as a player. ‘‘But it all went away after the first day of contact drills.’’
The only blemish on Freehold’s record was a 32-15 loss to Colts Neck on Thanksgiving Day. The state final against Middletown South would follow nine days later at Rutgers Stadium.
‘‘They were the better team that day. They played great,’’ Tyson said. ‘‘After the game, I looked at the faces of my teammates. I realized how that loss would fire us up. It left such a bitter taste in our mouths. We didn’t want that feeling ever again.’’
Monmouth County high school football review
The Star-Ledger, December 21, 2008 10:41 a.m.
Player of the year: A career-threatening injury such as a shattered vertebrae can lead to a second opinion by a specialist. The second examination Freehold Borough’s Nick Tyson received eight weeks later was performed by the same doctor, but with a remarkably different prognosis.
Tyson, playing for Marlboro High at the time, had been carted off the field on a stretcher, Sept. 20, 2007, after breaking his neck making a tackle. The spinal expert recommended surgery that would have ended his football career. But after wearing a neck brace for two months, the same doctor told Tyson that his spine was stabilizing and surgery would not be needed.
‘‘I was lucky I was still walking,’’ Tyson said. ‘‘I wore a horse collar and, luckily, everything healed itself. It’s really crazy how things turned out.’’
That was just the beginning of Tyson’s incredible comeback. Less than three months after he sustained the injury, Tyson was cleared to play football again. While he was healing, his parents had moved from Marlboro to Freehold Borough, where he started over with a new team.
‘‘I can’t explain how the kids on this team took me in from the beginning, like I was always there,’’ Tyson said. ‘‘To me, that was kind of shocking. I’m very happy. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’’
Tyson’s arrival at Freehold Borough seemed like it was destined to be as the senior took over at quarterback and led the school to its first state championship. The banner campaign included not one, but two victories over perennial power Middletown South.
‘‘Nick could do everything,’’ Freehold coach Mark Ciccotelli said. ‘‘He could coach the team. He’s a successful human being, first and foremost. After all the adversity he has been through, he was a success at anything he did for us.
‘‘Players like him are few and far between. It’s like coaching a college player. He would sit in the meetings. He really understood what we were trying to accomplish.’’
Tyson ran Freehold Borough’s option attack to perfection, passing for 1,105 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushing for 693 yards and 10 TDs. His two touchdown runs in the first quarter of the Central Jersey, Group 3 title game against Middletown South was the impetus behind the 21-14 triumph.
‘‘Nick is a tough guy,’’ Ciccotelli said. ‘‘We never worried about him passing or running or managing a game. He’s just the whole package. Most of all, it is his toughness. Any time we had the game on the line, his was the number we wanted to call.’’
Before he got to play a down on the varsity, Tyson had to prove to himself he could handle the contact.
‘‘I wondered about the amount of hits I could take,’’ said Tyson, who is considering Delaware and Fordham as his next stop as a player. ‘‘But it all went away after the first day of contact drills.’’
The only blemish on Freehold’s record was a 32-15 loss to Colts Neck on Thanksgiving Day. The state final against Middletown South would follow nine days later at Rutgers Stadium.
‘‘They were the better team that day. They played great,’’ Tyson said. ‘‘After the game, I looked at the faces of my teammates. I realized how that loss would fire us up. It left such a bitter taste in our mouths. We didn’t want that feeling ever again.’’