LC’s Andrew Bot makes major comeback

When the Lewis and Clark Tigers football season ended in disappointment last November, linebacker Andrew Bot started getting himself ready for his senior year by undergoing the toughest workouts of his young life.

Then things took a huge turn one day in May.

“I was working out with a trainer, and I was working really hard,” said Bot. “I was running, and I just heard this pop in my leg.

“I didn’t know what it was at the time. I felt like someone had kicked me or something.

“Then I fell down and gave a little shout. The first thing that came to my head was, ‘What are the coaches going to say?’ “

What do you tell your coaches when you’ve just ruptured your right Achilles tendon and will probably be on the sidelines for your last season of high school football?

“He was about as emotional as a kid I’ve talked to about an injury,” said Tiger head coach Tom Yearout. “I saw him the day after, and he was extremely disappointed.”

“I remember the next morning I went to the doctor’s office and got an ultrasound, and they said it was torn,” Bot said. “I remember him saying I wouldn’t be playing this year.

“That was pretty rough on me. I was on crutches, and I went right back to school. Coach Yearout was the first person I saw.

“I told him it was my Achilles, and he told me I could get over it if don’t sit around and cry about it. He said I would just have to work hard and I would be able to get back.”

While many doctors say that rupturing an Achilles tendon takes eight months to a year of recovery, Bot was on the practice field just three months later with his Tiger teammates after intensive workouts in physical therapy.

“At physical therapy, the people there were so great,” said Bot. “They helped me do all my stretches and all my legwork.

“They worked me hard. They did a great job.”

“They’re (the therapists) still amazed,” Yearout said. “They can’t believe that he’s back playing, but they say he worked his tail off.”

The senior inside linebacker fulfilled his dream of making it back when the doctors cleared him for full contact the week before the Tigers hit the field for their season opener a month ago.

“I was so excited,” Bot said. “I wasn’t expecting it yet. I was so happy.

“I remember calling my mom and screaming into the phone. The first game was actually four months to the day I had my surgery.

“I remember I was pumped. I just wanted to go out there and do the best I could.”

Bot is also playing tight end this season for the 3-1 Tigers as they get ready for this week’s game with Clarkston. His inspirational play led his teammates to elect him as one of the Tiger co-captains for his final season.

“It meant a lot because the team does it,” said Bot. “It means they look up to me. I can’t explain it.”

“Andrew plays with quiet intensity,” Yearout said. “He’s not a yeller or screamer, but how hard he plays, the other kids notice, and I think they feed off of that.”

“He’s a year older and stronger,” continued Yearout. “He’s playing at about 80 percent, but he’s doing a great job.

“On that one leg, he’s playing about 80 percent. When you watch a game, you’d be hard pressed to tell he’s not 100 percent. He’s really gutting it out.”