SALINE – Don’t feel sorry for Larry Robinson because he’s not going anywhere.
Despite suffering a torn ACL last week during practice, the Saline senior quarterback still plans to be there every step of the way for his teammates much like he was as a cheerleader during a win over Ann Arbor Huron on Friday.
Of course, the season-ending injury is far from ideal for one of the state’s top senior players, Robinson, an Army West Point commit, is leaning on his teammates as he begins his recovery.
“It’s tough,” Robinson after Friday’s game. “Getting the news that I tore my ACL is never something an athlete wants to hear, so it’s hard to deal with, but seeing us win games like this is definitely uplifting.
“It was tough that day, but it is what it is. I’ll be back in the spring time just in time to go off to school.”
Despite Saline’s victory, Joe Palka said he’s still having a hard time dealing with happened to Robinson.
On Wednesday, Robinson was lined up at the wide receiver position running drills when his left leg got caught in the turf and he heard a pop.
Palka and the rest of the team tried to hope for the best but feared the worst and the worst-case scenario came to fruition on Friday.
Robinson learned he suffered the significant injury on the morning of Saline’s game on Friday, which made focusing on the game more difficult for the Hornets.
“There wasn’t a more depressed time in my coaching career or in our team history other than when that happened,” Palka said after Friday’s game against Ann Arbor Huron. “The whole demeaner of our team went down, we tried to bring it back in practice, even the next day we were trying to fight through it.”
What made Robinson’s injury so devastating to the Hornets was the impact he had on the program during his career.
The 6-foot athlete led Saline to a 17-3 record, two conference titles and three playoff victories when he was under center.
He also earned all-conference, all-state and Ann Arbor Dream Team honors and progressed each season as a leader for the Hornets.
“He means so much to our team and our program,” Palka said. “Just proud that other guys stepped up and I know he’s proud of them too, but we’re not done feeling the repercussions of that injury.
“We were gonna really need him. We got through (Friday), but we’re going to have to find other ways because he’s a phenomenal talent, a once-in-a-career type of guy.”
Robinson had hopes of helping the Hornets make a deep playoff run, but will have to cheer from the sidelines the rest of the way.
But don’t worry about Robinson, though. He said he still plans to be there in every capacity regardless of his setback.
“I wouldn’t miss it for nothing,” he said. “I’m at every practice, whether it’s late at night or early in the morning, I’m going to be there. These are my guys and it’s still my team regardless of if I can play or not. I wanna be there supporting them.”
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