COMEBACK CHARLIE: After Junior Season Shortened to One Game By Knee Injury, Brookville Senior QB Krug is Back Stronger Than Ever

BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Charlie Krug sprinted, leapt and reached for the football during a 7-on-7 game last summer for Brookville.

The junior had already made a name for himself on offense as a quarterback for the Raiders, but he was also a gifted defensive back and was trying to make a play on the ball for his team.

As he landed, his left knee buckled.

(Pictured above, Brookville quarterback Charlie Krug played just one game as a junior before a torn ACL suffered during the summer ended his season. Now a senior, Krug is back, healthy and hungry/submitted photo)

It was as if the air was kicked out of his lungs. The realization that it was a serious injury hit him immediately.

“I knew,” he said. “I knew right away.”

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The extent of the damage to his knee was known some time later. Krug had torn his ACL.

But that wasn’t going to be the end of the season for the Brookville star. He had seen other athletes — and even football players — attempt to play through such an injury with success.

Caden Rainey did it at Union/A-C Valley. Last year, Ryan Hummell beat the odds and had an exceptional season at Central Clarion.

But for Krug, it wasn’t meant to be.

“We knew it in camp, and we were going to give it a go,” said first-year Brookville coach Gabe Bowley, who takes over the Raiders’ program this season from retired coach Scott Park. Bowley joined Park’s staff in 2017. “He was gonna go as long as he could.”

“We didn’t really have a timeframe on that,” Krug added. “We were just going to see how long it lasted and, obviously, it didn’t go as far as we wanted it to.”

Not nearly as long.

His season was over just as it was starting.

His knee held up for just one week.

With Krug sidelined, Brookville had to improvise.

Gone was the spread offense in which Krug flourished. In was a more traditional, smash-mouth attack that featured a ball-control rushing attack behind Brookville’s third quarterback of the year, Noah Peterson (backup quarterback Easton Belfiore also suffered a season-ending injury) and running back Jackson Zimmerman.

Following a 1-4 start, the Raiders won four of their next five to make the District 9 Class 2A playoffs and then beat Karns City, 31-7, to set up a district championship clash with Central Clarion.

Brookville lost that game, but the perseverance the Raiders showed made the campaign a success.

Krug tried to be there. He wanted to help out as much as he could. But his recovery took priority.

He wanted to come back better than he was before and that required his full attention.

“It was hard to be there,” he said. “I just wanted to be strong for the next year. It took a long time to get there. I didn’t devote myself as much as I wanted to the team, but it’s hard with an ACL injury. You’re just trying to bet back to your best self.”

Krug thinks he has.

And maybe has even found a better self as as senior.

Krug was a workout fiend. He added muscle in the offseason and strength.

He’s noticeably bigger and more stout than he was at the start of his junior campaign.

Krug is healthy and hungry.

“A bonus, in a sense, is the last time we really saw Charlie play at 100% was when he was a sophomore,” Bowley said. “There’s a big jump between being a sophomore and a senior. He’s dedicated himself to the offseason, rehabbing his knee from last year and getting in the weight room. I know he just put up personal bests on the bench press. And he’s been looking strong in the offseason, agility-wise. His arm is looking good.”

Krug said he made the most of his time off the field.

He wanted to turn misfortune into an opportunity. Turn a negative into a positive.

“Really, mentally, I think it helped me, honestly,” Krug said. “I think I needed to become stronger mentally. I was still a junior, but I needed to be stronger mentally and physically. I think I just needed to push myself harder. It made me realize that I can’t take the sport for granted.”

When Krug was healthy as a sophomore, he put up some robust numbers.

He completed 147-of-274 passes for 2,009 yards and 23 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions in helping Brookville to a 7-4 record and a playoff berth.

Krug believes he can get back to that form.

And surpass it.

“I think all the time I spent working in the offseason is going to help me a lot,” Krug said. “I think I’ve devoted a lot of time into it. I think this is the sport that I’d like to pursue.”

Brookville Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.