Gretna QB Miller sidelined

Gretna sophomore quarterback Nick Miller, the state’s Group A player of the year as a freshman last fall, dislocated his left ankle and fractured his tibia in a scrimmage at Jefferson Forest last Friday night and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Miller, who played a primary role in guiding the Hawks to their third state title, and first at the Group A, Division 2, level, a 52-0 rout of Gate City, said the injury didn’t hurt when it happened, but he knew it was bad.

“I couldn’t feel it, it happened so fast,” he said. “I was rolling out when I got hit and I landed on my back foot.”

He was treated in the emergency room and operated on later that night.

“They popped it back in place and did surgery on it,” Miller said. “They put four screws and a plate in it and put a boot on it.

Doctors have yet to give Miller a timetable for his potential return, though William Campbell coach Brad Bradley, for one, hopes he makes it back before season’s end.

“That’s horrible,” Bradley said of the injury after hearing about it first-hand from Gretna coach Chris Thurman. “I really feel for the kid. My heart sunk. I know what kind of kid Nick Miller is and how hard he works. He’s a tremendous football player, but if you’ve ever met him, you know he’s a tremendous young man. Gretna’s still going to be Gretna, with or without Nick Miller (but) you hate to see that happen to anybody. I want him to be out on the field. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in time for the playoffs.”

In Miller’s place, sophomore Ted Jennings, younger cousin of former receiver Stephan Jennings who has no quarterback experience, will start at quarterback in the Hawks’ spread attack.