While Loyola football coach John Holecek is bringing Hamid Bullie back slowly from a torn ACL in his right knee, the senior running back provided everyone at Friday’s game with a glimpse of his potential to again be a special player.
Bullie carried the ball 14 times for 43 yards in a thrilling 13-6 win over California’s Bishop Amat in Northfield. The Ramblers’ home field does not have lights so the game was played at New Trier.
“It felt good to start to get into a rhythm again,” said Bullie, who lives in Chicago. “It started to feel a little bit like a feeling-out process early in the game. But as things progressed, it felt good. I felt like myself again. I felt like I was ready last week, but coaches want to take it easy.”
Bullie had just one carry in last week’s 20-14 loss to Phillips.
His biggest test Friday came at the start of the second half with Loyola (1-1) holding a 7-3 lead. After receiving the kickoff, the Ramblers moved 72 yards during a 14-play drive that ate up more than 7 minutes of clock. Bullie had seven carries during the drive, including a 10-yard, stutter-stepping, first-down run and a key 4-yard gain up the middle on fourth-and-1 deep in Bishop Amat territory.
Two plays later senior quarterback Quinn Boyle faked a handoff to Bullie and marched in for a 6-yard score.
“Me and (Bullie) have been doing this since freshman year,” said Boyle, a Glenview resident. “I know exactly where he’s going to be and I know he’s always going to give everything he has. It gives me confidence to know that he’s there doing everything he can. He’s shifty, he makes plays, and he keeps us from being too one-dimensional. That makes him very valuable.”
Bullie was receiving interest from Division I colleges before the injury, which occurred in the regular-season finale against Brother Rice. Holecek feels it’s only a matter of time before he’s the player he was a year ago.
“With a year, a year and half, two years of recovery, he’s going to be special again,” Holecek said. “He’s already special now. But I think he’s getting ready to possibly make that big jump and bring that breakaway speed again. We’ve got to take it easy on him here early and give some other guys a chance. But he’s a workhorse. By Week 4 or Week 5, I feel like we can really turn him loose.”
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Bullie was having a solid year in the Ramblers’ backfield in 2016 before he was sidelined by a freak, non-contact incident.
“I remember the whole thing well,” Bullie said. “I was slowing down, trying to read a play and when I planted to cut back, I heard a crack. At first I thought I broke my leg. Then I thought I could just walk it off, but it got worse and worse.”
While his teammates marched through the playoffs and lost in the Class 8A state final, Bullie had surgery. For the next 10 months he went through a vigorous rehabilitation to get back on the field as soon as possible and make a difference for Loyola, which plays host to rival Mount Carmel on Sept. 9.
“Physically I’m fine. Mentally I do think about it a lot,” Bullie said. “You don’t think about it during a game because you just want to be out there making plays. Physically I feel like my old self. But there’s a lot to get back. It’s more than just the knee. It’s not playing for a long time. It’s working on picking up your feet, building stamina. I still need to work on things like ball security and hitting the right holes. There’s a lot of things I need to do to get better.”
With Loyola leading 13-6 midway through the fourth quarter, the Ramblers looked to put the game out of reach. But on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line, Bullie took the handoff and ran into trouble. He reversed field and lost control of the ball. Bishop Amat (0-2) recovered the fumble at its own 8 with 6:02 remaining.
The Lancers failed to score, but it was a reminder that Bullie’s comeback is not complete.
“I got a little loose with the ball,” he said. “I was trying to do too much. Trying to get something out of nothing instead of just eating it. I should have thought about it more. But that’s just something I need to get better at. You can’t do something like that to your team. We need points. Turnovers are no way to stay on the field. I need to be more aware of that in practice.”
Phil English is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press