Knee injury sidelines Hilmar quarterback Kindberg

Hilmar High football coach Frank Marques announced on Tuesday that senior quarterback Chase Kindberg will be out the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury in last week’s win against Mountain House.

Kindberg tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and will need surgery, according to Marques. The surgery means Kindberg will need six to eight weeks to recover.

“It happened at the end of the first half,” Marques said. “He just got tackled funny. There wasn’t anything malicious. It wasn’t a dirty play. It was just a football play.”

Junior Tristan Crowley will start at quarterback on Friday when the Yellowjackets (8-1, 4-0 Trans-Valley League) square off against Ripon (6-3, 4-0) for the TVL championship at Ripon.

Crowley has only attempted 20 passes this season, completing eight for 108 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Crowley has also rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown.

Kindberg was having a stellar season, passing for 1,578 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’s completed 103 of 184 passes with only six interception.

With Kindberg leading the way, the Hilmar offense has averaged 36.9 points and 421 yards of offense per game.

Despite the lack of game experience for Crowley, Marques feels the left-hander will be ready to step in.

“Chase has been nursing an elbow injury all season,” Marques said. “We’ve kind of kept in quiet, but Tristan has been taking all the reps in practice all season. Chase has been resting his elbow during the week and even on game night’s he only throws a couple times in warm-ups.”

Marques says the Yellowjackets won’t have to change their approach or modify their playoff for Crowley because he’s gotten the practice reps all season.

“The team will be fine,” Marques said. “The kids will rally around Tristan. You just feel bad for a senior, who has been a leader for this team all season. Every morning Chase is the first one in the weight room. Now he’s just going to have to find a different way to lead from the sideline.”

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Knee injury sidelines Hilmar quarterback Kindberg."