Stonehill Runningback Perseveres

By Noah Powell

Saturday, September 14th 2019, the Stonehill Skyhawks football team prepared for a big matchup against division rival New Haven Chargers. The Skyhawks follow the same routine every home game, with the times varying on when kick-off is. This was a 2:30 p.m. kickoff and breakfast was at 10. Everyone reported to the locker room at 11:45 and began warm ups at 1:40 p.m. At the heart of this Skyhawks team is senior running back Brian Kearns. Kearns, a Three year letter winner and Skyhawk record holder. He was one of the biggest “spark plugs” for the team since he stepped foot on campus as a freshman, with his ability to make plays at any possible moment. He always provided the team with that extra juice they needed. His teammates fed off his contagious energy. Many of them attribute it to how vocal he is on the field, and his never ending motor always moving forward no matter the odds stacked against him. The most notable of games coming his sophomore year against rival Bentley. The Skyhawks won this game in overtime following behind Kearns’ 243 rushing yards on 32 attempts. For a running back to take that many carries is an unbelievable feat, considering the abuse that they take, but he kept moving forward. This game day morning for Kearns was different. When Kearns usually wakes up on game day, he’s immediately in a zone where nothing can deter him off his path. 

         It took him longer to warm up than usual and he felt off. He couldn’t seem to find himself.

         Kearns always was at home on the football field. He started playing football at age five. Football is what the Kearns family does. His cousin, father, and grandfather all loved it. His dad played one year of division II football at West Chester. His cousin, Anthony Manzo- Lewis, made it the furthest of the four. He played Division I football at Albany, then was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Los Angeles Chargers. Football is in their blood. For a while football was just something that Brian did, but around third grade he realized he had a true love for the game. Third grade is usually the time that the game of football becomes competitive for some kids. For many, it’s their first time putting on pads, and learning if they can handle the contact, or understand the game. It was instinctive to Kearns. This was something he was born to do. In sixth grade, after winning the Pop Warner Super Bowl, Brian decided to focus on football, to make himself better.

         On this September day preparing for his game against New Haven, Kearns was able to figure out the root of his doubts, as his day progressed. Suited up in the locker room he wasn’t confident in how his shoulder would hold up. A week earlier, in a game against Bloomsburg he suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first quarter, forcing him to miss the majority of the game. Going into this game he was nowhere near full strength. But he knew that New Haven was the projected number one team in the Northeast 10 division, he knew that his team needed him.

Football was everything to Brian. It brought him that elusive love of something that many people struggle to find. He credits football for making him who he is because of the different relationships it brought into his life. 

Many people speak highly on Kearns’ character, but no one speaks as highly as his girlfriend, Sarah Kean, and parents. Characteristics of caring, passionate, thoughtful, and kind are just a few of the adjectives they used to describe him. Most of all, he always puts his friends and family first. This is what makes Brian a great player. He is able to bring his character off the field, into his game on the field. His caring for others drives his work ethic. He refuses to let anyone down. In the summer he could be found in the gym with his trainer up to twice a day, then again on his own. 

         Warming up, Kearns kept trying to shake the bad feeling. He put on a façade for the rest of his teammates to ensure their confidence in him.

         Goals for the season were very high for Kearns. Sitting in the sixth spot at 2,067 yards, he’s only 953 yards short from the number one spot in Stonehill history. He’s one touchdown away from being the program leader in rushing touchdowns. He’s also only eight touchdowns shy from being number one in total touchdowns scored. 

Brian Kearns is a once in a lifetime athlete for the Stonehill Skyhawks football team.

         Five minutes’ till kick off and Kearns was transitioning back into his usual self. He takes no prisoners, and punishes all of those that get in his way. W.B. Mason field was packed for the home opener, when the Skyhawks would draw much bigger crowd than normal. The bleachers were filled with friends, family, recruits, and just fans of the game. His dad was at the top of the bleachers, and Sarah and his mom were on the sideline fence. The crowd was there to watch the Stonehill Skyhawks go to battle. The Skyhawks won the coin toss and elected to receive. 

         “Welcome to W.B. Mason stadium everyone! It’s a beautiful day outside, and it is finally time for some Skyhawk football,” the radio broadcaster announced

         The kickoff and kick return units lined up and the game was officially underway. The crowd erupted in anticipation of what was to come.

         Leading the Skyhawks offense today is running back Brian Kearns. He got dinged up in the previous week, but he is the glue to this offense. When he thrives all of those around him are able to.

         Kearns took the field. It was put up or shut up time for him. No more doubting what was to come for the day. He took the first carry of the game. He was back. He took his first carry for 12 yards and the first down. Like a Nascar driver on his last lap, Kearns shifted to top gear in an instant.Anything holding him back disappeared. He was fed the ball the next play for a small gain, and on the next play the Skyhawks were able to pick up a gain of nine. The energy in the stadium was electric. The Skyhawks were flying off the ball, initiating contact with the defense. They were moving at such a fast pace. The Skyhawks players on the sideline cheered for those on the field.

         Third and 1 for the Skyhawks. Everyone knew who was getting the ball. It was like knowing what follows A, B and C in the alphabet.

         “Third and 1 for the Skyhawks. It’s time for Brian Kearns!”

Kearns got the hand-off on an inside zone, bounced it outside and took it past the first down marker into some open field. The crowd erupted as he approached mid field.

         “Kearns has the first down, and he’s going for more”

         Kearns was finally brought down at the 50-yard line after taking an awkward high low hit to his knee. The stadium still filled with energy.

         “Brian Kearns still down on the play. This is not a good sign for the Skyhawks, hopefully he is ok and just got shaken up with his shoulder again”

         The lively crowd, and energetic, positive energy filling W.B. Mason quickly transitioned to nervous energy seeing their star running back on the ground. The loud roar turned into a quiet murmur.

Brian’s parents were immediately affected by the sight of their son lying down on the turf in pain. Mr. Kearns felt as if this was all just a bad dream and hoped the injury wasn’t serious. Mrs. Kearns felt sick to her stomach.

Kearns knew right away. It was a player’s intuition. His ACL was torn. As he laid there on the ground he repeated to himself over and over, “I’m done, I’m done. My season is over”. A mindset never seen by Kearns.

He limped off the field with assistance from the team trainer to a loud ovation from the crowd. The game continued, and the crowd shifted their focus back to the game. For Kearns his story changed. All his life he was used to playing in games and always contributing in anyway, but as he laid on the trainer’s table he was lost. They began to evaluate his knee, but he didn’t need to hear them tell him it was torn.

The anterior cruciate ligament, ACL, is one of the four key ligaments that stabilize your knee joint. The recovery involves surgery and the time table for return varies anywhere from six to nine months. As an athlete, tearing your ACL is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. The reason being is there is no guarantee you will be the same athlete once you return. You can return better, and stronger than ever or less explosive and nowhere near as dynamic. A notable athlete who wasn’t able to return from this type of injury was Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis for the Denver Broncos. After coming off a record breaking season, and performing at the peak of his ability, Davis tore his ACL and was forced to retire in 2001. Then on the other hand, future Hall of Fame running back for the Minnesota Vikings, Adrian Peterson, tore his ACL and returned to the field after eight months. In his return season in 2012, Peterson ran for 2,097 yards which was just 9 short of the NFL record.

The future was no longer clear for Kearns. Breaking those career records were gone. He wouldn’t be able to finish his journey on the football field with his teammates. The young men he walked onto the field with for the first time together in 2016. After the game, when his teammates came up to him, telling him to keep his head up, he couldn’t help but break down into tears. If there’s one thing that those who never played a college sport don’t understand is the bond that you create with your teammates. Hurting yourself in your final season is your worst nightmare. 

Brian’s parents were able to see how sad their son was. It was a very trying time emotionally, and he was broken-hearted. 

Kearns’ time being sad was short-lived. His resilience and love for those around him shone like never before. Sarah spoke in admiration of her boyfriend, for the lengths he was willing to go to not let those around him down. Almost immediately after surgery Kearns found his way to physical therapy and was already riding a bike. A feat that not many are capable of. Kearns has his focus set on one thing, and one thing only, that is to comeback and play football again.

Currently, the rehab process is moving slowly for Kearns, but he is showing a lot of progress. A month out of surgery, he has begun to be able to bend his knee again and get some mobility back. He’s begun to feel like himself again and works his hardest to push himself a little further everyday,

Kearns has found a different part of himself in his rehabilitation process that he hadn’t seen before. He’s found a beauty in the struggle of building yourself back up from scratch, and an appreciation for all of those around him. Right now all he can do is take it one day at a time. But most importantly, this is not the last we’ll see from Brian Kearns, as this strong-minded young man looks forward to shocking the world when he steps back on the field.