Sawyer recovering from injury

By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
Talk about playing through pain.
Washington Pam Pack coach Sport Sawyer suffered an injured knee during Friday night’s season opener, a 35-13 win over North Pitt. Though Sawyer was hurt early in the game, he stuck around to the end.“I was in pain the whole game,” said Sawyer, who coached most of the game while on crutches. “It was swollen up like a balloon, but I wasn’t going to leave the kids for anything.”Washington’s fourth-year head coach was looking at a flag on the field when the incident occurred.“Travis (Daniels) ran by the sideline and I was looking at him,” Sawyer said. “Then I looked to check on the flag and that’s when blockers ran into me. I had my head turned and never saw them. One flew across my leg and I felt something tear. I had never felt anything like that before. I tried to take a step and almost went down.”An initial diagnosis revealed a torn meniscus and a fracture by the kneecap. Sawyer will head to the doctor’s on Monday to determine what needs to be done, and when.“I can’t put any weight on it now,” Sawyer said. “(The doctors) said I could do more damage that way.”With Sawyer likely facing surgery, he’s not sure what approach he’ll take to coaching his team.“They said I could probably coach from a golf cart,” Sawyer said. “I can wear a headset and talk with coach (Larry) Walker and give him the plays.“I think the big thing will be with practice. I don’t want to be in the doctor’s office and miss practice, but I have good coaches like Larry Walker and Jon Blank who will do a good job.”Speaking of good jobs, Travis Daniels certainly did that Friday night. The senior ran for 330 yards and four touchdowns in Washington’s victory.“During the course of a game, you don’t look at stats,” Sawyer said. “You just look at things like what plays are working and what plays are hot. Dakuan Spencer, Jamont Jones and Tony Turnage had great blocks on the perimeter to help free Travis, and the offensive line did a very good job and they’ve made improvements.“Travis is a great runner. He turned a 10-yard play into a 65-yard play.”The Pack (1-0) will play its home opener this Friday night as it takes on the Tarboro Vikings (0-1) at J.G. “Choppy” Wagner Stadium in the annual Victory Bell Bowl. Tarboro fell 41-12 to Nash Central on Friday night.While resting on the couch, Sawyer plans to study up on the Vikings.“I’ll watch some of our game film and go over it,” Sawyer said. “I’m going to take a look at Tarboro and try to come up with a game plan.”