Souhegan's Ginnard battles back from injury

The play looked like any other during the course of a high school football game

Portsmouth quarterback Nate Jones dropped back and threw to Billy Lane, who made the catch despite a leaping effort by Souhegan’s Colin Ginnard to knock the ball down. Lane sprinted to the end zone to give the Clippers a 14-12 lead in the first half of last year’s Division III championship.

As Portsmouth celebrated, and Souhegan walked back to the sidelines, Ginnard lay on the ground, his season over.

“I was covering a kid down the sidelines,” Ginnard, who is a senior at Souhegan, said. “The quarterback made a great throw and I jumped too early. I tried to get the ball, the receiver made a great catch and I came down on my arm. All my weight came down on my arm.”

Ginnard stayed on the ground for a while, his arm badly broken. Souhegan coach Mike Beliveau hurried over and immediately saw how serious an injury it was.

“When I saw the break, I looked at it and said ‘woo boy,’ ” he said. “When he went off the field he said he’d be back. When he talks, I listen.”

After being taken off the field in an ambulance, Ginnard spent the rest of the game in the hospital. He continued to get updates about what was going on – the Sabers eventually pulled out a 49-29 win – but not being able to be a part of the game was as painful as the arm.

“I wanted to keep playing and I knew I couldn’t,” Ginnard said. “I was mad at myself for doing that and I thought I hurt my team, but they came back for the win.

“It felt great to know that my team rallied around me and came out with a great win. Portsmouth was a great team last year and they are this year. I’ve never experienced anything like that and (to know the team did that) made me feel good.”

Everyone, from the players to the coaches, wanted to win the game for Ginnard.

“He started all year long and had done a great job,” Beliveau said of Ginnard. “He plays a pretty special position (inside linebacker) on defense. You put guys in the middle and lock in that they’re going to be there for you.

“The kid works hard and had a terrible broken arm. When that happened, as a team, they really like him a lot, they were pretty shaken up by that. We were trying to get him the winning football and we did. That’s a memory I’ll take with me.”

Ginnard spent three weeks with the arm in a cast, and after about a month, he began doing physical therapy. Although he was motivated to be even better his senior year, Ginnard worked even harder during the offseason, the memory of how his junior year ended always in the back of his mind.

“I’ve never worked this hard before,” Ginnard said. “I was getting down on myself because it was hard to come back from an injury I’ve never had before. I just kept working at it, knowing it was my senior and knowing I’m never going to get to play high school football again. I wanted to make it one of the best.”

The Sabers have done that so far, opening some eyes as they’ve gotten out to a 3-0 start in Division III (Souhegan is 4-0 overall). After opening the season with a come-from-behind win over Londonderry, Souhegan takes on another Division I opponent in Manchester Central on Saturday. The game was postponed from Friday and kickoff will be at 2 p.m. in Amherst.

“We have a lot of guys who nobody really knows,” Ginnard said. “We don’t have as much size as we did last year. We still have a lot of speed and a lot of heart and determination on this team.”

As a senior, Ginnard has been one of those players leading the way.

“He was able to come out this year every bit as advertised,” Beliveau said. “He’s reading plays, he’s attacking upfield and making a lot of tackles.”

And, thanks to the broken arm, he has a lesson to tell those following in his footsteps.

“Play every play like it’s your last because you never know when something like that is going to happen,” Ginnard said. “I just try every play to do my best and get every tackle I can.”