By Chad Conine

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Somehow, Charles Silmon knew he was in for a bad night early last fall in Ennis.

Like Creedence Clearwater Revival, he could see a bad moon rising as the Waco High Lions warmed up for their second game of the season.

“It started from the beginning,” Silmon said. “We were doing pregame and I went out to the field and I felt like something was going to happen. The turf was not ready for me.”

Charles Silmon tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the second game of last season.

Duane A. Laverty photo

Looking back, Silmon might have enjoyed a much longer season if he’d just stayed on the sideline at Ennis Lions Stadium.

Silmon tried to forge ahead past the eerie sensation that left him inexplicably wobbly.

“The play before, I fell head first by myself,” Silmon said. “I knew something bad was going to happen.”

And it did.

On his next carry, Silmon made a cut, turning his whole body with the exception of his left knee. It stayed put, stuck in the Ennis turf, and Silmon’s high hopes for his junior season collapsed — tests revealed Silmon had a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“I cried because I couldn’t play football and I thought I wouldn’t be able to run track that year,” Silmon said. “I was planning on doing something real amazing.”

Silmon’s injury also stung Waco High fans who had become accustomed to watching him fly down the sideline during the Lions’ march to the Class 4A Division II state title game in 2006.

Silmon flashed his ability to get to the corner as a sophomore that fall when he proved to be a dangerous change-of-pace weapon in a Waco High running attack that featured junior Jarred Salubi.

And when Salubi missed several games in the middle of the 2006 season, Silmon picked up the slack.

When Waco High began the postseason with a bi-district game at Corsicana with Salubi on the sideline, Silmon responded by rushing for 127 yards and two touchdowns and turning a reception in the flat into a 30-yard score.

‘He wanted to get back’

After a phenomenal spring and summer on the track in 2007, when Silmon established himself as one of the state’s top high school sprinters, the Lion back’s shortened football campaign could have halted his momentum in both sports.

But with the support of his family and team, Silmon started on the long road of rehab.

“He realized that even though he hit a stumbling block, his career was far from being over,” Waco High coach Johnny Tusa said.

“Some people will despair and give up on it, not want to spend the time or the energy, because it takes a lot. He wanted to get back at that level.”

Silmon said he set a date about a month before the District 16-4A track meet to get back in competition.

By the spring, Silmon had the knee back in good enough shape to add to his accolades on the track.

He helped the Waco High 4x200-meter relay team run to a silver medal at the 4A state meet and earned his own silver in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.02 seconds.

At the time, Silmon said he had recovered about 90 percent of his speed after the knee injury.

By going back to his rehab routine, Silmon said he’s back to 100 percent and hungry to get back on the football field.

Waco High senior running back Charles Silmon said he wants to collect 1,500 to 2,000 all-purpose yards this season.

Rod Aydelotte photo

Plenty of weapons for Lions

Rather than deploy Silmon as a featured back, the Lions will likely use him in a rotation that could include as many as five players.

Silmon, Toylon Clark and Bronshae’ Keon Dugas have all taken a significant share of carries for the Lions dating back to 2006.

Tusa can see Silmon getting the ball in a number of different ways this season, and Silmon is setting his goals accordingly.

“This year, I plan to get 1,500 to 2,000 all-purpose yards,” Silmon said.

If the Lions can bring a young offensive line along, Tusa said, they could be dangerous going side to side with Silmon and Clark, another member of Waco High’s medal-winning relay teams.

More importantly, though Waco High lost Silmon’s playmaking ability for 2007, Tusa said the senior will be a better leader this season.

“It probably did him more good than it did our team,” Tusa said. “He’s much more appreciative of the gifts of he was given.

“Having Charles back and having him at full speed is going to pay big dividends for us.”

cconine@wacotrib.com

757-5711