Central’s Dakota Fawver (2)and wideout Demetrien Johnson (6) warm up before the second half against South-Doyle on Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, at Central.
For Central head football coach Bryson Rosser, junior quarterback Dakota Fawver’s comeback this season is the “feel-good story of the year.”
A former quarterback himself in high school and college, Rosser could easily empathize with what Fawver went through in 2017.
On Aug. 25, 2017 — the second game of the season against Fulton — Fawver suffered a profound injury on a quarterback run. A helmet hit his leg, ending his season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a torn medial collateral ligament, a torn meniscus, a bone bruise and a strained posterior cruciate ligament.
In layman’s terms: he blew out his knee.
He watched from afar as the Bobcats made a trip to the Class 5A state semifinals.
But this season, Fawver has returned a new player and guided Central (12-2) to the BlueCross Bowl, where he and his teammates will face two-time state champion Henry County (13-1) at 7 p.m. Central on Saturday.
He could complete quite the resurgence, as Central is searching for its first state title in program history. It finished runner-up in 1999 and 2016.
“We took a lot of pride in each other in getting him back to a position in which he could be competitive,” said Rosser. “I feel that developing quarterbacks mentally and emotionally, not just physically, is a strength of mine. And it was something Dakota trusted me in completely. We had to change his game completely, which you can tell. Let the stats speak for themselves.
“He’s done an unbelievable job. Had a rocky start. It’s obviously tough getting back and throwing him back into the fire. He’s now led us to a region championship and now playing for a state championship. It’s unbelievable. Huge testament to himself, his parents, his family and trusting us a team to help him get back to where he wants to be.”
General rule of thumb on torn ACLs is: it takes about a year for the player to get back to feeling like himself again. In Fawver’s case, it was about a year and three weeks.
The Clinton game on Sept. 21 is when he felt like the old Dakota Fawver again. He threw for a season-high 322 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in the 35-14 win.
He’s had a touchdown pass in every game since, including nine during this postseason run. And for the season, he’s thrown for 2,496 yards and 26 touchdowns, helping Central take a 12-game win streak into the title game.
Central’s Dakota Fawver (2) attempts a pass to Demetrien Johnson (6) against Catholic Friday, Nov. 23, 2018 in the Class 5A state semifinals.
“God is good. I wouldn’t be where I am without my doctors and my family. But God has brought me here,” Fawver said after Central upset defending state-champion Catholic in the 5A semifinals on Friday night. “I can’t be more thankful than what I am right now. It’s a great feeling.
“It’s not just me. It’s not too hard when you got great guys around you.”
He isn’t lying.
The emergence of 6-foot-4 senior wideout Demetrien Johnson has definitely made Fawver’s comeback a little more productive. He and Johnson have displayed quite the chemistry, as Johnson has erupted for 1,095 yards and 11 touchdowns on just 60 catches.
This all from a player who had a comeback testimonial of his own.
Johnson missed his entire sophomore season with a knee surgery, meaning he didn’t get to see the field during Central’s appearance in the 2016 state championship.
He nearly quit the game until teammates like Xavier Washington convinced him to give it another go. Now Johnson is hearing from the likes of Tennessee Tech, Central Michigan and even Kentucky.
“We said, ‘Hey, imagine what you could do if you invested a little bit more into your craft.’ Didn’t play basketball last year. Got into a weight room, rehabbed himself. Got his mind right. And what we are seeing now is not a surprise to us,” said Rosser. “It’s amazing to see the maturation of him and what he’s doing for this team.”
Both he and Fawver will need to be at their best at 7 p.m. Central on Saturday night against Henry County, which has been a stumbling block to Knoxville-based teams this decade. The Patriots beat Powell and West, respectively, in the 2011 and 2013 Class 5A BlueCross Bowls.
“They do a great job of running the ball,” Rosser said about Henry County. “They can throw it some. They have some athletes out there. Just a complete team, all around. Big on the line. Really good technique. Really good scheme on both sides of the ball.
“They do a good job of putting their kids in a position to be successful. For us, we’re just going to try and focus on ourselves. Control what we can control — and hopefully give ourselves a chance to win.”
And if they do, it’ll be yet another Fountain City feel-good story.
WANT MORE ON THE 2018 BLUE CROSS BOWLS? Check out these trends, predictions, players to watch and videos … https://www.5starpreps.com/articles/quick-read-trends-topics-notes-predictions-for-3a-4a-5a-bluecross-bowls/