Referee whistles echoed across the field. The play was over. Still, some players were still fighting for the ball beneath a twisted heap of bodies. Others, began pulling people out of the pile as North Penn-Mansfield coaches were waved onto the field. Someone was hurt.

A hush came over the crowd as the teams returned to their respective sidelines. Panthers’ senior quarterback Bradley Brooks was still out on the field; coaches and trainers surrounded him.

“I remember I decided to keep the ball myself and I lowered my shoulder on the defender,” Brooks recalls. “We both hit so hard that neither of us fell. Then, I got hit by more of the their players from my left and my ankle snapped with the weight of those players hitting me.”

In a matter of a second, Brooks’ season came to a devastating end.

“In the pile, I remember not knowing that I just suffered the injury. I remember just screaming for everyone on the pile to get off me,” Brooks said. “After I was out of the pile I rocked my feet back above my head to try and stand up quick, but once my feet were in view, I noticed my right foot was not where it should be. My heel was almost where my toes are supposed to be. I had so much adrenaline I still didn’t feel anything and so out of instinct I popped my ankle back into place. I remember my coach coming to check on me along with the trainer and I could barely talk. I was emotional and I just said ‘Coach, it’s broken.’”

Brooks’ mother, Kristine was in the stands. She didn’t know the severity of the injury at the time.

“I’m not sure what I was feeling. I think I was just waiting for him to stand up and everyone to clap like I usually see with injuries, but when the coaches picked him up to carry him, I knew something wasn’t right,” she said. “It wasn’t until I saw the ambulance lights turn on that I realized his injury was severe. His Dad decided to ride on the ambulance per my request because he has over 20 years experience of fire department volunteering and could compose himself better than I would and keep Brad as calm as possible.”

Brooks’ injury dramatically changed the Panthers’ homecoming night. Moments before, Brooks had been crowned North Penn-Mansfield’s homecoming king during halftime. Now, the Panthers were tasked with returning to the field to try and finish the game.

Muncy was only leading by four points and the contest was still up for grabs. Brooks had led the Panthers down near the Indians’ red zone on the Panthers opening drive of the second half.

Now, freshman quarterback, Peyton Greene stepped in to try and close out the drive. But the Panthers weren’t able to come away with any points and gave the ball back to Muncy deep in their own territory.

Despite starting near their own end zone, the Indians marched the length of the field and scored a touchdown to take a 14-3 lead.

Colton Pellett gave the Panthers new life on the ensuing kickoff when he returned the ball into Indians’ territory. Luke Kreger would cap off the Panthers’ drive with a rushing touchdown to make it a one-score game again early in the fourth quarter.

Muncy responded with the final touchdown of the night to secure a 21-9 lead.

The Panthers’ weren’t able to muster a comeback and ultimately suffered their third-straight loss. Now, North Penn-Mansfield is tasked with picking up the pieces before taking to the road for a tough matchup with Troy this week. Brooks will be cheering on his teammates from afar, but he hopes the team can rally and find ways to win.

“Do not take a single second for granted,” Brooks said. “I would do anything to suit up again with the guys I played with for 10+ years, since we were kids. I hope they continue to work hard for the W in the games moving forward. I’ll be cheering for them from home and on the sidelines as soon as I’m able.”