The wait was agonizing.
For 365 days, Andrean’s Gordon Sharkey could not participate in the game he loves.
“I’ve never felt so terrible in my life,” he said. “I wanted to play so bad. I wanted to run on the field, even though I didn’t have shoulder pads or anything. It was a terrible feeling.”
In Saturday’s 21-19 victory over Hobart, Sharkey made his return known. He racked up 109 rushing yards to help the 59ers edge the Brickies in Northwest Crossroads Conference play.
Sharkey transferred from Lowell to Andrean prior to Week 2 of the 2014 season. Lowell didn’t sign off on his transfer, so he was ineligible for the remainder of the year and the first two weeks of 2015.
“It was my choice,” Sharkey said of transferring. “It was more of a family decision. That’s all I really have to say. I thought it would be better for me. I like it here.”
Sharkey gained eligibility prior to the Week 3 game for Andrean (4-1, 1-1) against New Prairie, but he was used sparingly for two games in order to improve his conditioning.
“Football is my love and my passion,” he said. “There’s not a day that goes by that I stop thinking about football.”
The victory allowed Andrean to rebound from last Friday’s 31-7 loss to Munster that snapped a 25-game regular-season winning streak.
The 59ers carried a 21-7 lead into halftime after two touchdown runs by David Graham and a TD scamper by quarterback Bryan Schmidt. Hobart (2-2, 1-1) climbed back on Nick Ray’s 13-yard run with 1:39 left in the third quarter. However, the extra-point attempt was blocked, a play that proved to be the difference.
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The Brickies scored again with 6:46 remaining in the fourth as Michael Wolfe connected with Monte White for a 27-yard TD pass. Wolfe was sacked on the two-point conversion attempt.
The 59ers overcame three turnovers and 10 penalties.
“We found some character because we fought through the adversity that we couldn’t fight through last week,” Andrean coach Phil Mason said. “We’ve got to eliminate the turnovers. They’re killing us. We had those turnovers last week and we didn’t fight through that adversity. (On Saturday), we found a way.”
Hobart faced what would have been a critical first down on fourth-and-3 from its own 26 with 2:45 left in the fourth, but an illegal formation penalty erased the chance. Coach Ryan Turley elected to punt on fourth-and-8.
“We were going for it on fourth-and-3, and then with the penalty you start looking at the clock and you’re playing a numbers game in your head,” Turley said. “We thought we could get a three-and-out and get the ball back with a fresh set of downs. Once they got a first down, it was over.”
After the game, the Brickies headed straight to the weight room for their Saturday lift.
“In the end, this game will be forgotten,” Turley said. “It’s all about what you do at the end of the year.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.