TSCHETTER OUT FOR SEASON WITH ACL TEAR

Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy was off Friday with its bye week, but there’s still news out of the Phoenix camp — and it’s not good.

As suspected following the team’s game against Avon Friday, Sept. 1, sophomore quarterback Riley Tschetter will miss the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. The injury happened in the second half against the Pirates when the all-conference quarterback planted his foot in the open field and went down.

Following the game, his coach and father, Dustin, said Riley “heard a pop,” and an MRI last week revealed it was, in fact, a torn ACL.

Riley had successful surgery on Monday, Sept. 11, said Dustin, who wouldn’t speculate on his recovery timetable but that they are hopeful he will be in a position to play baseball next year.

The Phoenix, meanwhile, will look to Marion sophomore Karter Weber to fill the quarterback slot the remainder of the season.

“We’re going to put him in the best possible position to succeed,” said the coach. “We’re going to utilize what he does well and put together an offense that we think will be effective.”

Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy was also dealt a setback in its Sept. 1 game against Avon when junior Sawyer Wipf — who is charged as the team’s snapper — broke his hand on the final play of the game. His return this Friday night against Howard is questionable.

While Dustin admits that the team was down last week, “we didn’t win the first three games because of one player,” he said. “We still have a lot of talent on this team; now, we have to have kids step up in (their) absence.”