STARKVILLE — Andreus Swanigan decided he was not going to feel sorry for himself.
The Starkville High School running back suffered a hamstring injury against Oxford Aug. 26. The injury forced the starting tailback to miss nearly a month of practice and two games.
But instead of having a pity party or giving up on a chance to return, Swanigan put in the work during rehab sessions on Sundays. He said he stretched and iced his leg, but didn’t start running until the week before he returned against Callaway on Sept. 23.
“I wanted to be on the field,” Swanigan said. “I was hating it. I wanted to be on the field bad. I wasn’t upset because I knew it came with the game and I had to take it, but I had faith to deal with it.”
Since his return, Swanigan totaled 182 yards on 32 carries in four games. He failed to find the end zone in his first six games. But Swanigan turned in his best performance with a team-high 107 yards on nine carries and three touchdowns as Starkville beat Murrah High 56-8 Friday night at Yellow Jacket Stadium on Homecoming in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A, Region 2 game.
Swanigan said he ran an outside zone against Oxford and picked up four yards. A Charger defender pushed him down and he tried to stop his momentum with his right leg. He said his leg extended and he knew right away something wasn’t right. He walked off the field without being able to put much weight on it.
Starkville running backs coach Carlos Kemp said he wasn’t surprised with how the junior handled the adversity.
“He stayed positive and knew he could take his time getting back because we had other guys that were stepping in and doing a job,” Kemp said. “He just stayed patient. He came to rehab every Sunday and every day in practice, just rehabbed really good. I held him as long as I could.”
Sophomore Rodrigues Clark got most of the carries with Swanigan out. In five games, he had 450 yards on 88 carries and five touchdowns. In the two games Swanigan missed (Sept. 2 against West Point and Sept. 16 against Meridian), Clark had 87 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns and 162 yards on 28 carries and one touchdown, respectively.
When Swanigan returned on Sept. 23 against Callaway, Clark had 125 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown. Swanigan had 43 yards on eight carries.
“I think it made the game slow down for him,” Kemp said. “Coming into the season, I told him he was supposed to be the guy. At the beginning of the season, he was more than playing up to his ability that he played last year at the end of the season. I think seeing Clark having success made the game slow down for him and made him refocus. Once he refocused, it came back to him.”
Clark is out for the rest of the season after having surgery to repair the cartilage in his left knee due to a torn meniscus.
Clark gave the Yellow Jackets (6-3, 3-2 Region 2-6A) an early 6-0 lead with a 12-yard touchdown with 10 minutes, 3 seconds remaining in the first quarter. He scored twice in the second, both from five yards out, to give the Jackets a 43-0 halftime lead.
Swanigan began the second half with a 45-yard run, but he fumbled the ball at the Murrah 19 yard line and the Mustangs (2-8, 0-5) recovered.
“He’s gotten better,” Starkville football coach Ricky Woods said. “He still isn’t completely well, but he’s going to get better every time. It’s just the healing process. The more he runs, the better he’s going to be.”
The Yellow Jackets had 303 yards rushing. K.J. Lawrence had 81 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns. Jhitwan Rogers had 47 yards on three carries and his first-career touchdown. Backup quarterback Tonorris Brookins had 76 yards on three carries and a 77-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Already befalling to one injury, Swanigan said it’s in the back of his mind every time he touches the ball.
“It’s football, so if it happens, it happens,” Swanigan said. “I try not to think about it, hard. I think about it and then I say, ‘I’ve got to stop thinking about it.'”
Kemp knows the thought is with Swanigan, but he told him to play at full speed and not worry about the things he can’t control. He sees this as a test of adversity and wants Swanigan to respond the right way and not let the past dictate his future.
With no seniors at running back, Kemp said Swanigan has to become the leader and carry the load with Lawerence and Rogers (both sophomores) giving him a break.
Swanigan and Starkville play host to Warren Central this Friday and then travel to Clinton Nov. 4.
“I’ve still got to humble myself and continue to do what I did (Friday) in these last two regular-season games,” Swanigan said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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