Last year, Terry White suffered a broken hand at the beginning of the football season and a broken dream at the end.
The Tinley Park tailback sustained the hand injury in the Titans` season- opening victory over Rich South. It was actually the third week of the season, but Tinley Park forfeited its first two games because of a teachers` strike.
The Titans won five in a row after the strike, but a 12-10 loss to Thornton Fractional North halted the streak and knocked them out of the running for a state playoff berth. White is hoping this year will be different in more ways than one.
”I think we can do really well,” he says quietly but confidently.
Despite the hand injury, White rolled up more than 900 yards in seven games last season and was an all-South Inter-Conference Association Central Division selection.
How did he do it with a broken hand? Easy. Well, almost. A specialist fitted him with a rubber cast to wear during the games.
”It fit perfect,” said the 5-foot-8-inch, 150-pound White. ”It was real nice. You could feel a little pain, but nothing major. After the game, I`d take off the rubber cast and put the hard cast back on.”
In Tinley Park`s first two games this year, nonconference victories over Bolingbrook and Argo, White rushed for 352 yards and four touchdowns. He also returned an interception for a TD. He was held to 70 yards in a 24-0 loss to Rich East Sept. 14. Saturday, White gained 101 yards on 21 carries in a 14-0 loss to Crete-Monee.
”We noticed him as a freshman, that he had some exceptional talent,”
said Tinley Park coach Lou Narish. ”He has the speed, quickness and moves that catch the eye.
”He`s a very intelligent runner when he`s moving. He doesn`t just go. He`s thinking as he runs. Plus, with his quickness, he seems to have the ability to make moves and still utilize his speed. Some kids are fast in a straight line. White has quick accelerations and he keeps gaining positive yardage.
”He got faster during the track season than he was last year. He seems more aware of the blocking schemes that are ahead of him.”
Tinley Park runs out of the I-formation, with fullback Bob Princzes leading the way for White. ”White`s running is half and half–half he finds the holes and half is doing it on his own,” Narish said.
Having White in the backfield opens up the play-action pass for Titans`
quarterback Ron Tiechman, who hooks up with Brian Wise.
”Because of White, the defense has a tendency to look in the backfield a little longer to see what`s going on,” Narish said. ”White is one of the easiest kids to coach on the team. He has an excellent grasp of the game.”
Experience might have something to do with that. White played with the Hazel Crest Mustangs for four years under his father.
”I thought playing with them improved me a lot for coming here to Tinley,” said White, alluding to the games Hazel Crest would play against youth teams from Wilmington, Momence, Bourbonnais and Mokena. ”It seemed like I had an edge on a lot of people.”
White runs track in the spring to help keep sharp for the fall. Last spring, he won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the 300-meter low hurdles in the SICA Central meet. He qualified for the state meet in the 200.
This spring, he`ll be running to prepare himself for college football. Because of his size, White, who can cover 40 yards in 4.4 seconds, expects to become a flanker.
Whatever school gets White, it will have someone who loves to play the game–with or without a broken hand.
