By Christopher Cassidy
After a dominant 2018 season where he rushed for 961 yards and 12 touchdowns, Brian Kearns Jr. was expected to put up even more spectacular numbers in the 2019 season.
Unfortunately, on September 14, 2019 Kearns Jr. stumbled on a play and tore his ACL in his right knee.
“Tearing my ACL three plays into the game was devastating,” Kearns Jr. said. “It was a lot to go through and it was a long rehab process.”
Kearns Jr., the fifth-year senior, has impacted the Skyhawks football team in ways that no other running backs playing division II have before based on his stats.
In his five seasons he has run 2,256 total yards and has scored 25 rushing touchdowns which is the current Stonehill record.
After Kearns Jr. returned to full strength from rehab, the team found out they were not going to play a season until the fall of 2021 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
“I finally got the opportunity to get back out there last Saturday,” he said. “It was a surreal moment, and it was something out of body because I could not believe I was back out there.”
Kearns felt that it was never in question that he would strap the pads back on following the devastating injury and he was grateful to have the opportunity to do so against Bloomsburg.
“I had been playing football since I was five years old. I knew my last play in football was not going to be me being carried off the field by my teammates,” Kearns Jr. said.
In his first game back, Kearns Jr. had 15 carries for 103 yards and his counterpart Justin Felder had 31 carries for 177 yards and three touchdowns.
According to Kearns Jr., Justin Felder and him are possibly the best running back duo in the country.
“Justin has grown so much since coming in as a freshman,” Kearns Jr. said. “He has become an unbelievable player and leader on and off the field, and our relationship has grown so much.”
When a team has two 2,000-yard rushers on it like Felder and Kearns Jr., it makes it difficult to prepare as opposing teams face the scary Skyhawk backfield.
The Skyhawks are now 2-0 this season following their dominant 54-21 victory last Saturday over Southern Connecticut State University.
Justin Felder ran for 183 yards on 22 carries with five touchdowns, and Kearns Jr. added to the yard total with 86 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown of his own.
The first conference game of the season is on the road against the Bentley Falcons on September 18. The Skyhawks look to defend their record against the big rival team and dominate the field like they have the past two weeks.