Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
DETROIT, MI — Brett Smith walked through the tunnel at Ford Field, directly to his son Travis Smith, and embraced him as tears rolled down Travis’ face.
In what should have been all tears of joy for the Ithaca junior quarterback, had many tears of sorrow and regret.
On the second play of the Yellowjackets’ Division 6 state title game with Constantine Friday, Smith severely injured his shoulder – an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game.
As Smith lay on the trainer’s table getting his injury treated, his teammates, led by backup junior quarterback Logan Hessbrook, went on to beat the Falcons 37-27, giving Ithaca its third straight state championship, and 42nd win in a row.
Hessbrook ended his day rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns and throwing for 104 yards and two more scores.
“It really sucked getting hurt in the state finals, but Logan really stepped up and had a great game. And it’s a great feeling to win a third straight state title, I just wish I could have been out there.”
But as soon as the injury happened, the Ithaca sideline, and the fan base that made the trek to Detroit, knew it was bad.
Bad enough for Brett Smith to make his way to the field to be there for his son.
“It was a hard thing, watching the tears roll down his face, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to get back on the field,” Brett Smith said. “That, I think was more painful than the pain itself.”
As bad as it was, Brett Smith began to see up close why this bunch of Yellowjackets have turned their football program into one of the elite programs in the state, if not the country right now with its accomplishments.
“I’m so pumped for this team,” Brett Smith said. “Logan came over and told him not to worry, I’ve got your back. In fact, all the seniors came over and told him that – that was cool.”
One of those seniors was tight end/running back Jared Evers, who also played a big part in the win with 77 yards rushing and a touchdowns and 30 yards receiving and another touchdown.
“Every time I looked over to the sidelines I teared up,” Evers said. “To see him on the sidelines, not able to play, that was tough. But we told him, we’ve got your back on this one.”
That show of support eased Travis Smith’s pain just a bit.
“I’ve played with these seniors my whole career, and they all have been great friends to me,” Travis Smith said. “That meant a lot.”
Even though he couldn’t stop coaching the Ithaca players on the field, Yellowjackets coach Terry Hessbrook couldn’t help but pay a little attention to what was happening with his star signal caller behind him on the trainer’s table.
“That was awful, Travis has been our offensive leader for two years now,” Terry Hessbrook said. “To seem him with that game-ending injury, that was awful.”
Terry Hessbrook also saw the pain on dad’s face, as well as mom (Aubrey), with tears in her eyes.
“It broke my heart to see them go through this,” Terry Hessbrook said. “That family has done a lot for the Ithaca community. I told the kids that Travis has had our backs all season, not it’s time to have his back.”
The good thing for Terry Hessbrook is that he has Smith for one more year.
“This will make him better for next year,” Terry Hessbrook said. “I know he will come back and work very hard because of this. I’m happy to coach him another year.”