It’s easy to go through the motions, get your body right, and have expectations heading into your senior football season. That said, things don’t always go as planned.
For Peabody’s starting center, Mark Clanton, all his hard work seemed to have come crashing down in one play.
“Two days before the season-opener, it was a Wednesday night and we were working on our jumbo-formation at the goal line,” he said. “There was a minute or so left in practice and my leg got caught up with the runner behind me and the other lineman… it just bent the wrong way, which caused a fracture to my fibula.”
After the play, Clanton told his teammates and coaches he’d be fine for the opener, but deep down, knew something was wrong.
“Right away. To be honest, I was pretty distraught,” he said. “I got up and the adrenaline was pretty crazy. I was walking around and telling people I’ll be all right for the game on Friday. I was a bit delusional.”
After going to the training staff, he was told it could be a fibula injury because, despite the pain, many still walk around.
“She wanted me to get an x-ray, so I drove to the emergency room and, shortly after, I got the news,” Clanton said.
A broken left fibula.
“The original diagnosis was it could take anywhere from four to eight weeks to recover,” Clanton said. “Every time I went back to the doctors, they said it was healing pretty fast.”
Timetable aside, Clanton did everything he could to get back on the field as quickly as possible.
“I was on the bike every day for two weeks straight trying to strengthen my legs and keep up with my conditioning,” he said.
There was the mental obstacle, too.
“Honestly, it was tough and it wasn’t easy. Playing football for over 10 years, I feel like I always learn something about myself and face a new challenge,” Clanton said. “This year, it was sitting out for weeks and, of course, I always supported my teammates, but it’s really tough when you’re going through a school day and you don’t have football after. I had to take on a new mindset and be positive about things. People have had worse things happen to them, and I had to just stay positive knowing I’ll be back out there.”
Mission accomplished. Clanton made it back to the practice field in no time, and after a few practices, entered Week 5’s game against Leominster late in the fourth quarter.
“Honestly, I went out there and it was a strange feeling… it didn’t feel the same. That’s when I knew I had to put even more work in,” said Clanton, who only snapped one drive that night. “At my size, I have to work back up and get my wind up to be able to compete against these strong teams we face.”
The next week against Winthrop, he was supposed to be eased in, but when Peabody’s offense couldn’t get rolling, the coaching staff put Clanton in for the final drive of the first half.
“I started to snap and it clicked that I’m going to go out there earlier than I thought,” Clanton said.
When he entered the game, the Tanners were trailing 7-0, but strung together a 15-play drive resulting in an 8-yard touchdown.
A big reason for the success: Clanton.
“We weren’t having much success on offense, but at halftime, my offensive line coach was talking to me and saying that they need me to take care of Winthrop’s nose guard so we can free up our two guards,” Clanton said. “That kind of lit a fire under me knowing that I could really impact the game and help my team out. That meant everything to me.”
In the second half, Peabody put up 17 more points en route to a 24-7 victory. Better yet, coach Mark Bettencourt said Clanton changed the game.
“I thought Mark Clanton helped us control the A-gap a little bit better,” Bettencourt said. “I think that may have been the difference because we didn’t need to double-team every time. Mark can handle one-on-ones, allowing our guards to pick up the blitzers.”
Clanton and the unbeaten Tanners (7-0) are looking to not only make the postseason, but also, make some noise.
“We don’t want to win one or two playoff games,” Clanton said. “We want to keep going and make a name for ourselves.”
