Apr. 11—HATTON — It's a brisk fall night in Caddo. Clear skies and a cool wind have created the perfect Friday night lights atmosphere for Hatton's cross-county trip to East Lawrence last September.
Despite opening the football season 1-3, it's the fourth quarter and the Eagles are threatening to upset the 4-0 Hornets. Facing a 30-28 deficit in the fourth quarter, Hatton punted at midfield and special teams player and defensive-end Owen Brackin stepped out onto the gridiron.
As the ball was kicked downfield, Brackin made a cut towards the Eagle carrier and felt an instant and deep pain in his leg.
"I was going downfield to tackle the guy and there was no one around me," Brackin said. "I stepped in a hole, and I felt my whole-body pop. It burned like crazy."
The Hornets would go on to win with the last drive of the game, but Brackin had torn his ACL and would be out for the year. The then-junior had been playing for Hatton since seventh grade and now would have to watch them make the playoffs without him.
So in between sitting on the sidelines, supporting his team every Friday, Brackin worked hard three days a week in physical therapy so he could be the designated hitter for the upcoming baseball season.
"Going to therapy was really hard the first two months," he said. "It's hard to stay positive because a lot of the time you're just wishing you didn't have to go. But I just wanted to get out there and play; that really kept me going."
Brackin worked through basketball season and half of baseball season before he could wear the black and blue on a field again. He made his debut in baseball as designated hitter in a 10-0 win over Cordova in the second week of March.
In his one plate appearance, he logged a hit and an RBI, a performance he would repeat as a designated hitter for the latter part of the Hornets' playoff push.
" He can't play defensively because of his injury. So, he's the first guy you pinch hit, but you can't put him in a situation where a double play may be possible because he can't get down the line," head coach Denton Bowling said. "So, the only way he's going to get to home plate is if he hits it over the fence. So he pretty much went most of the season with one plate appearance per game his junior year."
Despite missing the first third of the season and still recovering from a torn ACL, Brackin hit .314 on the year with 11 hits in 19 games. However, his road to recovery wasn't finished. He showed up to workouts that summer unable to shake the doubt about his leg.
" With Owen, I'm not going to say there wasn't any concern, because there was. He's not soft by any means, but does he trust it? Can you get him to trust that the leg is fine?" Bowling said. "You have to kind of bring him back little by little and he worked hard in therapy and in rehab. In football, he made it through but there were a couple times he probably played slower than he could have just because he didn't trust it."
Brackin opened up his senior football campaign with 34 tackles and an interception in 11 games. By the end of the season he felt back at 100% and was surprised with his progress.
" It lets you get to know yourself more because I didn't think I had that in me," he said. "I mean, that's a lot of work trying to get back and everything, especially in that short amount of time."
That 100% showed immediately during the baseball season. In 10 opening games this February, he recorded 19 RBIs on 16 hits, three triples and a pair of doubles.
" Owen's a really smart kid. He makes pretty good grades, but there's a commonsense approach to things and Owen does ...
