ST. MARYS, Pa. (EYT/D9) — With a bulky brace encasing his injured left elbow, Rayce Weaver roamed the Keystone sideline during the second half of last season.
A serious injury suffered in Week 5 against Smethport wiped out the rest of the junior quarterback’s campaign on the football field.
He was determined to not let it end his year off of it, too.
Weaver wasn’t about to bail.
(Pictured above, Keystone quarterback Rayce Weaver gets taken down by Union/A-C Valley’s Mikey Card during a game early last season/photo by Stephanie Crissman)
He stayed as close as he could to the team. He attended games, offering encouragement to teammates and advice to sophomore Drew Keth, who was thrust into the role as the starting QB with very little experience.
“Yeah, I was lugging that thing (the brace) around,” Weaver said, smiling. “I mean, it was important to me to be there. I know I couldn’t do anything. I wasn’t physically out there on the field, but I was on the sideline trying to help these guys any way that I could. I couldn’t play like I wanted to, but to be there for the guys and hopefully making a difference in that way was something I wanted to do.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
It wasn’t easy being there, but Weaver showed up anyway.
He desperately wanted to put on the helmet and pads again and be out on the field with his teammates.
His elbow wouldn’t allow it.
“I mean, that was tough,” Weaver admitted. “Week in and week out, when you’re not out there, it’s all you can think about. You’re watching everyone and that’s really tough. So coming back, I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”
The recovery, though, was long an arduous because of the nature of the injury — a complete dislocation that affected every ligament and tendon in that joint.
Even during basketball season when Weaver was finally cleared to play, he wore that cumbersome brace on that elbow for most of the winter.
(Rayce Weaver)
“When that happens, there’s a lot of ligaments and things that are out of alignment,” Weaver said. “It takes time. It definitely lingered for a long time. It’s one of those things that the doctor said it’ll never be perfect. But with everything that I’ve done, it’s almost back to 100%. It’s gotten better.”
That served as supreme motivation to Weaver.
He wanted to come back stronger. Better.
“It’s all I thought about,” Weaver said. “Every time I lift or anything like that, it’s always what I think about. It’s been a huge motivation for me to get stronger and heal this thing and hopefully make it the best that I can.”
When Weaver was healthy last season, he was effective for Keystone.
He threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns before the injury. Most importantly, the Panthers were 4-1 in the games he played.
Keth did yeoman’s work as the quarterback, throwing for 757 yards and 10 touchdowns and leading Keystone to the playoffs after taking over.
But Weaver will get a chance to play quarterback again as a senior.
“Drew did a heck of a job last year and he’s perfectly capable, but he’s gonna move probably to a slot for us and run some jet and catch the ball,” said Keystone coach Todd Smith. “He has great hands. He’s a great athlete. He’ll still be out there.”
And so will Weaver, who is now one of the unquestioned leaders of the Panthers, who are coming off a season in which they notched their first District 9 playoff win in 33 years.
“You never want something like that to happen, but adversity reveals a lot of things and what it revealed in Rayce is his character,” Smith said “The way he responded and the way that he helps people, he’s a good person and a team guy. That’s how you want to see people handle situations like that. I think that’s the reason why guys want to follow his leadership because of how he responded to things.”
Weaver also learned a valuable lesson from his experience last year.
Never take anything for granted.
Ever.
“You never know how long you’re gonna have so I’m just going to try to make the most of it,” Weaver said. “We’ve done a lot of work here this summer — all these guys. We’re just looking forward to that and see what we can do.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
Fall Sports
Rocky Grove and Lakeview Team Up for Mason
Baseball/Softball
Union/A-C Valley Pulls Away From Keystone for 15-6 Softball Victory
