Yoro makes an amazing
By Pat Bigold
return to St. Louis lineup
Star-Bulletin
On Friday night at Aloha Stadium, when No. 56 takes the field for St. Louis in the Oahu Prep Bowl, there will be some murmuring in the stands.Some will feel as though they've seen a ghost.
Others will figure that the St. Louis all-state middle linebacker Jacob Yoro's jersey number is on someone else's back.
After all, a football player is not expected to return to play the same season he completely tears his anterior cruciate ligament.
The dreaded ACL, which has ended the careers of many promising athletes, visited its curse upon Yoro on Oct. 4, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu game against Kamehameha.
It was his first serious injury, sidelining him after 31 consecutive varsity game appearances.
After a Magnetic Resonancy Imaging (MRI) scan found the ACL, Yoro said he was told to get ready for surgery and his freshman year in college.
"But I made a commitment to be with this team to the end," said the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Yoro, a 16-year-old senior who turns 17 Dec. 8.
Right after the MRI, Yoro began an exhausting therapy routine.
The Mililani resident went twice a day, six days a week, for the first three weeks, to Hawaii Physical Therapy on Kapiolani Boulevard. There he worked with St. Louis trainer Ross Oshiro and therapist Pat Ariki.
Then he cut back to three hours a day, six days a week.
"The worst part was the pain I had to endure and push through to get it back where it belonged," said Yoro. "Sometimes the pain got intense and I got discouraged. But then I'd look to God and he was with me."
Yoro said he drew lots of incentive from watching practice every day for the first couple of weeks. He was also on the sidelines for games, aching to get back in.
Yoro has been wearing a light but sturdy custom-fit knee brace to practice this week that gives him both straight-ahead and lateral movement.
"It keeps my leg from twisting, and, if there is contact, it protects the knee," he said.
"They don't recommend it (playing) but it depends on how strong the individual is."
"Jacob's a tough guy and he'll have it operated on soon," said St. Louis head coach Cal Lee.
"But right now, he's practicing and he'll play."
Yoro, who is not even walking with a limp now, said he won't force the knee if it becomes wobbly. He can't afford cartilage damage.
"When I get to that point, I'll back off," he said in deference to his football future. He has received inquiries from Oregon, Northwestern, California, Air Force, Nevada-Las Vegas and the University of Hawaii.
"A knee can actually function without the ACL if the muscles are strong enough to support the knee," said Yoro, a National Honor Society student with a 3.8 cumulative grade point average.
He said he's proud of his sophomore backups, Joseph Siofele and Chad Santos, who filled in for six weeks.
"They did a great job and pulled it off," he said.
He admits the knee worries him but he's ready to line up next to middle linebacker Fabian Fonoti.
"I put all my trust in God. If it goes out again, it goes out again. I'm willing to play every down Friday night."
The fifth annual University High School Thanksgiving Softball Tournament is Friday and Saturday at Koko Head District Park with games at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. both days. SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
The eight-team tournament includes University High, Kalaheo, Hilo, Lanai, McKinley, Lahainaluna, Leilehua and St. Francis.
The still-intact state meet cross country course record at Hawaii Preparatory Academy's course (16 minutes, 47.4 seconds) was set in 1987 by Paul Bedish, a Maryknoll student. BEDISH WAS SPARTAN
In last week's cross country stories, Bedish was referred to as a Punahou student.
Bedish ran for Pac-Five in the regular season but under the Maryknoll banner at the state meet.
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