Varsity football center, Andrew Goerke, worked hard all spring to have a strong start to the 2022 fall season. Andrew started playing football during his freshman year of high school, saying, “Sahuaro football is a legacy in my family and I wanted to follow in those footsteps.” During the first game of the season against Seton Catholic Preparatory, Sahuaro was winning 28-12 and was doing great. As half-time ended, number 73, Andrew Goerke entered the field as the center. The play started strong for the Cougars, but then a player from the opposing team was pushed into Andrews’s knee, causing his knee to hyper-extend, but Andrew claims he heard some cracks. After being down for a while, he was finally helped up and walked over to the sidelines to get looked at by our sports trainer. The game ended, and Sahuaro took the victory 41-24.

Andrew went to the doctor four days after his injury; he was given an ultrasound, MRI, and an X-ray to find out that he tore his meniscus, posterolateral corner, also known as the PCL, and sprained his anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. The doctors gave him a brace to keep his knee in place; after about a week and a half, he had a lot of pain and swelling in his knee that wouldn’t go away. His mom decided to take him to the hospital to do some tests and figure out what was going on. After a few blood tests, they found out he had a blood clot in his left knee that was injured, and they put Andrew on blood thinners, keeping him in the hospital for 4 days.

Andrew continues to keep a positive attitude from the sidelines, “This recovery has been rough, and I’m still making my way up there. Being on the sidelines has been pretty fun, I’m able to watch my buddies play and cheer them on, and I also learn new things while watching and seeing the game from a different perspective.”