Helton did all he could to return for final season with Bedford boys lacrosse

Steve Gaudreau got to see a lot of Bedford High School football team this past fall.

With his son, Paul, playing a role for the Bulldogs defense as a sophomore, the head lacrosse coach spent as much time as he could watching as Bedford went undefeated on its way to a Division I championship.

So he was there for the Bulldogs' quarterfinal win over Winnacunnet, and he saw when senior Brody Helton banged up his knee. But any concern Gaudreau had was eased when Helton returned to the game and continued playing over the final two weeks of the playoffs.

“I watched every down this fall, and all those kids certainly took a beating at times,” Gaudreau said of his multisport athletes. “I saw it happen. I knew he got dinged up and he was able to manage things.”

Having never had a major injury during his high school career, Helton figured he'd feel a lot worse if that were the case, so he played through it as best he could.

“My knee kind of gave out on that play and I was like ‘that’s kind of weird,’” Helton said. “That’s never happened to me before. I put a sleeve over it, taped it up a lot, and then just kind of went from there.

“We thought it was just a really bad bone bruise because the swelling wasn’t in the front of my knee, it was in the back. It didn’t seem as serious. If it was, I feel like I would know.”

In early December, with the football season done and the championship won, he got checked out again and the diagnosis was worse than he'd ever imagined: Helton had torn the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

While that kind of knee injury can happen in contact sports, it's seen most in car accidents and happens when a bent knee is hit with high-energy force.

That was the bad news. The good news was, recovery from a PCL tear is shorter than other knee injuries, but according to Helton, he was still looking at a possible five or six months until he'd be cleared for lacrosse.

“The doctor told me just be prepared, you probably won’t play at all this year,” said Helton, who is going to play lacrosse at Rutgers University next year. “You’ve got to accept it at that point.”

The news was tough for the Bulldogs to take, especially for fellow senior and fellow captain Bennett Matthews, who not only has been a teammate with Helton since before high school, but also a best friend.

“When he said he didn’t think he was going to be able to come back, it was heartbreaking,” Matthews said. “With how close we are and the dynamic that we have on the lacrosse field, the football field, and outside of sports, it’s really tough to see him go through that in his senior season.

“But I always had the confidence in him that he would work as hard as he could to get back.”

Even if he did everything in his power to get back, Helton knew there was still a chance that he wouldn't be able to. So while he told anyone who would ask he was most likely out for the season, in his mind, he had other plans.

“I thought to myself, you could do one of two choices,” Helton said. “You could either work your butt off or you could kind of sit there. I was in (physical therapy) twice a week from probably three days out of surgery.

“It was just a long process. Not being able to walk and get around is just frustrating. It’s a lot on you mentally, but I surrounded myself with great people, my parents, my friends. That just kept me up.”

After about six weeks on crutches, Helton was able to get himself around, and by the time the preseason started for lacrosse, he was at practice to help the Bulldogs in whatever way he could.

“I knew that if there was a chance that he could come back, he’d come back,” Gaudreau said. “This place means an awful lot to him and he’s accomplished so much. He’s a captain, so I think for him, he was looking for another opportunity to contribute. We needed him to be a leader, to be like another coach for us.”

Bedford opened the season with a road trip, going to Sacco, Maine, to play Thornton Academy. With limited space on a long bus ride, often times some assistant coaches won't make a trip like that, especially for an early start time.

Because of that, Gaudreau figured he'd be a little shorthanded on the sideline and would need to make up for it. Instead, during the game, he realized someone else had stepped up to help out.

“I was wondering how (Helton) was going to handle being on the sideline because he’s always on the field,” the coach said. “I remember turning and saying to myself, which assistant is running the (substitution) box behind me, and it wasn’t an assistant, it was Brody. He just stepped up and understood a role where he could be useful. Good players like that find a way to adapt, and he certainly did.”

It was a surprise at first to some of the players, too, hearing a teammate calling them on and off the field.

“I realized it once we got into the game and I was getting called off the field by (Helton) and I was like ‘what are you doing?’” Matthews said. “I don’t think he thought twice about it. Being able to have that helping hand on the sideline, it was definitely huge.”

Bedford started the season with eight wins in its first nine games, but in the first week of May, the Bulldogs dropped back-to-back games to Bishop Guertin and Longmeadow (Mass.) to slip to 8-3 on the season to fall behind the Cardinals and Pinkerton in the standings.

But just a few days later, the Bulldogs got some great news.

“I had a doctors appointment on the 24^th of April and that was kind of the day I was like I think I actually might be able to play,” Helton said. “(The doctor) told me to come back May 12 to get a brace and I can go from there if I keep progressing. In PT, you have to hit a certain percentage, and I had already hit it. I got the brace and went from there.”

Helton returned the next day in Bedford's home game against Dover and scored five goals to go with two assists in the Bulldogs' 20-9 win over the Green Wave. Eight days later, he netted four goals as Bedford went on the road to beat Pinkerton, 14-11, a win that helped it secure the No. 1 seed in the D1 playoffs.

“I was so excited and anxious to get back because it’s the best shape I’ve ever been in in my life,” Helton said. “I feel stronger than I ever really have.”

After playing midfield for a number of years, Helton has been at attack for the Bulldogs, and while that took time to adjust to, he's fit right into what Gaudreau wants to see on the offensive end.

“I was ready to take any version of Brody that I was going to get and to be able to get the version that’s an All-American right away is pretty awesome,” Gaudreau said. “It’s changed a lot for us, but I think our core principles are the same. From a personnel perspective, to have that experience, I think it just gives everybody a little more confidence.”

One more game remains for Bedford, as it will face Pinkerton again at 5 p.m. Saturday at Stellos Stadium in the D1 championship game.

“As a senior, I’m just going to cherish these moments, especially lacrosse with these kids,” Helton said. “We were there (in the final) sophomore year but it’s always been a dream of mine. Get football and lacrosse in one year and go out with a bang.”