RAINBOW CITY — The goal for Westbrook Christian’s 2017 football team was to make the playoffs for the first time in five years, and senior running back Addison Ponder did everything he could to make it happen — literally.
At the midway point of the season, the Warriors had a 2-3 record and were in desperate need of a win over region foe Collinsville on the road Oct. 6.
Westbrook trailed 10-0 early, but battled back with two second-quarter touchdowns by Court Coley to grab a 4-point advantage at the half.
On the first drive of the second half, Ponder ran an outside zone to the right. He knew something didn’t feel right with his knee while in midair running the ball.
When he planted his right foot, he was pushed out of bounds on the Panthers’ side of the field.
His body went, but his knee didn’t.
At this point, he was used to having problems with his knee. But this pain was different.
“I think he tore his ACL!” Ponder remembered hearing on the sideline.
He laughed.
That’s because Ponder tore his ACL about seven weeks prior — a week before the season started.
‘You’re going to have to drag me off the field’
It wasn’t Ponder’s turn to run the ball during a drill at a rehearsal scrimmage, but he felt he didn’t do a good enough job before. So he did it again.
Ponder made a move to avoid a defender in the secondary, much like he always has. But this time his knee buckled.
It popped despite no contact.
“I grabbed my knee and I was just in shock,” he said of the throbbing pain. “I knew it wasn’t normal.”
He didn’t finish practice, but as the rest of the scrimmage unfolded, the pain wasn’t too bad.
“I’ll be good in a week,” Ponder recalled thinking. “But obviously it wasn’t fine.”
What was feared became official a day later — the senior had torn his ACL.
He had two choices: have surgery to put an end to his senior year of football before it even started or attempt to play with a brace on his knee.
Ponder remembered telling a group of friends in his senior class prior to the injury that “you’re going to have to drag me off the field.”
“Everybody says that,” Ponder said. “Then I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I’m going to have to actually do it.’”
‘We knew that he was going to play’
Ponder’s brace for his knee came in the day of Westbrook’s first game of the season at Glencoe, but he didn’t get to do much.
“I put it on and I was running,” he recalled. “I had so much adrenaline. … But they didn’t want me to play for about three weeks; just wait.”
And he did.
He held field goals during the Glencoe game, which Westbrook lost 28-17.
Ponder went through practice the following week in preparation for Sand Rock. And that was the first time he experienced his knee buckle after tearing his ACL.
The senior was running a fade route and it gave way with the brace on.
It was expected to eventually happen, but it’s tough to be prepared for something like that.
“I just felt like I tore it again,” Ponder said. “It hurt, but I was like, ‘OK, I’m fine.’”
Ponder saw playing time at safety against the Wildcats and even caught a pass toward the end of the game.
His knee never buckled against Sand Rock, but the Warriors fell to 0-2 on the young season after a 17-3 region loss.
The next week saw Westbrook lose to the defending Class 2A champions and region opponent Fyffe 54-6 on the road.
“I was hurting; that was just a physical game,” he said. “I played a little bit of offense that game. I ran a 1-yard touchdown. … It wasn’t a big deal.”
But making the playoffs was, and the Warriors’ chances of making it were looking slim after starting the season 0-3 with two losses coming in region play.
Once the Fyffe game ended, Ponder sat down with his parents to discuss the possibility of having surgery.
“I remember us weighing our options: him stopping then, having surgery and then being completely ready for baseball,” his mother Kelly Ponder said. “But that thought was just for a second. We knew that it was not going to happen. We knew that he was going to play.”
‘Give me the football and I’ll win the game’
Region foe Section was up next. Another loss would put the Warriors at 0-3 in the region and their playoff chances would be all but over.
But that’s not the only thing that would come to an end. Addison, along with his parents, decided his senior season would also be over if Westbrook lost.
“So I took it upon myself that I’m not having my surgery yet, so we got to win this game,” Ponder said.
Ponder mostly played at receiver against Section early on.
The offense was struggling to get anything going, so Ponder decided to take matters into his own hands.
He hadn’t told anyone at this point of his plans to have surgery if Westbrook lost outside of his closest friend, Court Coley.
“If we lose, I’m done,” Ponder recalled telling his coach Brian Mintz. “And I don’t want to be done. … If you want to win the game, give me the football and I’ll win the game.”
Down 14-0 in the second quarter, Ponder entered the game at running back.
He then proceeded to help lead his team down the field 75 yards in 10 plays, capped off by his 5-yard touchdown run late in the first half.
Section was able to get in the end zone before halftime, but Westbrook scored 21-unanswered points in the second half, including a Ponder touchdown run to open the third quarter, to give the Warriors the 28-21 win.
“I’m back,” Ponder recalled thinking. “But then the adrenaline wears off and I get into the locker room and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
His knee buckled three times during the game and he was feeling the pain afterward. But Ponder kept it to himself.
“I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” Ponder remembered thinking to himself.
The following week was a non-region game against White Plains, so Ponder didn’t play running back much. But Westbrook pulled out a narrow 16-14 win heading into a big region matchup at Collinsville.
‘(The night) just started weird’
The day of Westbrook’s game against Collinsville just felt off from the jump.
“The night was weird. It felt weird outside. The field wasn’t right to me. Everything was weird,” Ponder said before admitting he is superstitious.
He fumbled on the first drive of the game, which was his only fumble of the season.
But then the senior got it going, as he totaled 115 yard on 18 carries.
“That was probably the best game I’ve had in my career running the ball,” Ponder said of his first-half performance
But his night ended prematurely as he went down with his injured knee early in the second half on the Collinsville sideline.
His knee had buckled on him many times at this point, but Ponder knew this was different.
Just as it felt all night, something wasn’t right.
This time Ponder tore his meniscus.
“I was just doing whatever I wanted to do because the line was doing so well,” Ponder said. “We were so prepared for that game and everything as working out. It just started weird.”
The night ended well for Westbrook with a 33-10 win over Collinsville, but Ponder’s senior season was over.
He was hoping he could continue to play, but that was shot down the next morning at the doctor’s office after a long, painful night.
The decision was made to have surgery the following Monday.
‘We flipped the script’
Westbrook continued its winning ways with region wins over Asbury and Gaston in the ensuing two weeks.
The Warriors locked up a playoff berth for the first time in five years, and Ponder playing through his knee injury was a big part of making it happen.
Westbrook finished the season 5-5 and traveled Sulligent for the first round of the playoffs. The Warriors’ run came to an end that night in a 42-14 loss.
The season ended earlier than Westbrook would’ve liked, especially in Ponder’s case, as he had to watch instead of play, but it provided a lifetime worth of memories for everyone involved.
“I think it’ll be something he’ll never forget and I think it’s something these kids will never forget,” Mintz said. “As for myself, one of the things I’ve really tried to emphasize with these young men here is developing toughness. I think he gave us a true picture of what that looks like.”
It was all about developing toughness all season long for Ponder.
“I feel like this season turned around a lot because everyone looked at our football team as 3-7 (Westbrook’s record the past three years), soft, no leadership, not strong in the weight room,” Ponder said. “After this season, I don’t think people are saying Westbrook is the same team they were a year ago. Not even anywhere close.”
And Ponder kept giving his teammates and coaches his all despite having a legitimate reason to hang up the cleats. He wasn’t done playing until he didn’t have a choice. His never-give-up attitude played a big part in the Warriors’ turnaround.
“I was successful while I was playing and we ended up being successful,” Ponder said. “There is a lot of pride in being able to say we set the tone. We flipped the script.”