Hickman gets boost from Bounds

For Hickman running back Tucker Bounds, the first day of contact drills was a disaster.

A football player is usually filled with excitement on such a day. The monotony of summer drills is over, and for the first time the season can been seen on the horizon.

But Bounds suffered a grade two-plus tear of his MCL that day. A grade three tear means the knee ligament is fully torn. The tear Bounds suffered left his MCL hanging together by a spaghetti string of fibers.

After sitting out for about six weeks, Bounds returned to action in Hickman’s third game of the season.

“I was a little scared of getting hurt coming right off the injury,” Bounds said.

Each week since then, Bounds has gradually seen more action as his knee has continued to get stronger.

Hickman coach Jason Wright pointed to Bounds’ resiliency and up-beat attitude as reasons for his quick and successful rehab.

“He’s a happy-go-lucky kid, always smiling,” Wright said. “That’s the reason why you coach. You coach for people like Tucker Bounds.”

Running backs coach Sam Bornhauser said he saw Bounds get a little down on himself when the injury first happened, but soon after he was working hard to get back on the field. Even with Bounds’ effort, Bornhauser said it was difficult for him to watch one of his players deal with a substantial injury.

“It just pulls at your strings as a competitor when things like that happen,” Bornhauser said. “When the first game started, you could tell that he wanted to play football and that he was itching to get back into the game. It’s just the natural competitor in him.”

Bornhauser said that Bounds showed little tentativeness in his knee once he suited up again.

“He was totally ready to go from the start,” Bornhauser said. “If you come off an injury like that, there is going to be a certain degree of game speed you have to adjust to, and the first few snaps that first game that’s exactly what he was doing.”

Center Lucas Little said he sympathized with Bounds after the injury, because Little had gone through the same injury the previous year.

“I knew that it was hard (for him), but I knew that him being the kind of guy that he was, he was going to do his therapy and get back,” Little said. “He made a goal to get back as soon as he can, and he did. You can see how he has performed; it has paid off for him.”

The only thing that can hurt Bounds’ performance now is that he shares running back responsibilities with another talented player, Rob Heath.

Bounds said there is no rivalry between the two players and that each is willing to do whatever it takes for Hickman to succeed. Noting that if Heath is doing better in a specific game, that for the good of the team, he is happy to get the football less.

“There’s different running styles between me and Rob,” Bounds said. “I’m kind of the sweep guy and he’s more of the pound ‘em guy.”

Bounds said he is more than happy to have another capable runner on the team because it will ultimately lead to more success.

“If I get tired, I always have that comfort that I can just wave, and I know a fresh guy will come in, in Rob,” Bounds said.

Bounds, Heath and injured quarterback Doug Luetjen will make up a large component of the Kewpies’ offense next season, and Bounds said he hopes the group can build together similar to the Rock Bridge Bruins group of Logan Gray, Scott Concannon and Aron White.

“We’ve played football with each other for a while,” Bounds said. “All the seniors are hoping it’s their year with a championship, so I think that is what we are trying to build toward.”