Strath Haven QB converts to safety, RB after breaking hand
WALLINGFORD, Pa. (CBS) -- It's a big night for local high school football. Strath Haven is off to a 5-0 start. Sam Milligan had dreams of leading the Panthers to an undefeated season, but then adversity struck and suddenly, the senior's season was in jeopardy.
Milligan was excited for his senior season as the quarterback of Strath Haven High School and then, on the first drive of his first game, disaster.
"He broke his hand. Didn't know it was broken at that time," Strath Haven head coach Kevin Clancy said. "He finished the game but he was unable to throw a pass."
So you think this is where we would tell this sad tale about a kid missing out on the final year of his high school career?
Awe, you would be wrong.
"We finished the game. I had to go to urgent care and then they told me I broke a hand. I had to sit out a week, I got surgery. And then Week 3, I was able to come back and play against Conestoga, free safety. Since then, I've been playing with a cast and a club."
That's right. Milligan came back with a broken hand and a club, played two new positions and didn't miss a beat.
"He came back and started out of our secondary. Picked off two passes his first game back," Clancy said. "Then we started using him in the backfield, he ran for three touchdowns the other night and then had two more interceptions this week. So he's made a huge impact on the team even while not being able to play quarterback."
In three weeks, Milligan has four interceptions and has carried the ball 21 times for 209 yards and four touchdowns.
He came back because his team is on a mission.
"Our whole team goal is to just win football games, so whatever we have to do that," Milligan said. "So if it's playing a game with a broken hand, then it's playing a game with a broken hand. There's not much to it. We just want to win so I think I owe it to my teammates to come out and play for them."
The doctors and coaches had to sign off to allow Milligan to play, but it took a little bit more convincing to clear the final hurdle, his parents.
"I kind of did the senior year pitch. It's the last chance that you're guaranteed to play football. So that was my biggest pitch. I told my teammates at the beginning of the year I wanted to go undefeated. That's been our whole goal all year. I told my parents that and they were on board with that. I'm very lucky they didn't hold me back."
CBS3's Don Bell reports.