COLERAIN, Ohio– The Colerain Cardinals find themselves back in the Regional Championship this Friday night. But one of their own won’t be on the field with them this week after a bad car crash. But the adversity is bringing this team closer together.

Senior running back Jaylen Thomas has seen the end zone plenty of times this year, including just last Friday. But hours after the regional semi-final win, Thomas found himself in the hospital.

“We were just telling each other at Skyline after the game like ‘Man I love you!’” Senior Captain Ace Ehren Schwender said. “Like ‘good game tonight!’ It’s unfortunate it happened, but I’m just glad that JT’s alright now.”

“He was just driving, and he just fell asleep behind the wheel, and it was like three in the morning,” senior captain Elijah Ford said. “He said he was just tired, I guess, and he hit a pole.”

Teammates and coaches say Thomas had successful hip surgery on Monday and returned home on Wednesday.

“We know, it’s unfortunate that Jaylen ain’t going to play for us Friday night,” Head coach Shawn Cutright said. “But these players are getting excited to take the field in his honor to represent him out there and all of Colerain and just play as hard as they can and just see where the chips fall.”

That’s been the motto all week-play for Jaylen.

“We just all made it a commitment that we would all play this one for JT and the rest of the playoffs really,” Schwender said.

Coach Cutright says his team has already faced lots of adversity this season, but this was a bit more difficult for his team to handle.

“It’s definitely different than an injury that occurs on the field,” Coach Cutright said. “It’s a little bit more emotional. It’s a little bit more heartfelt.”

Even this week’s opponent showed support for Thomas and the Cardinals tweeting out a message of support. 

“It’s about more than football, and it’s good to see that and be refreshed that it’s not all about the game on Friday,” Schwender said.

But for this team, the sights are still set on getting to the state semi-final. And they’re hopeful number 2 will still be at the game, but this time in a different role.

“He told me on Monday. It was the first thing on his mind,” Ford said. “He said I’m not going to miss the game. He said I’m going to find a way there.”

“It’s going to pump us up a lot,” senior captain DeShawn Pace said. “It shows that he’s a supportive brother, that he’ll do anything to come see us. And we got to do the same, and we got to ball out for him.”

And Thomas’s teammates wanted to share one last message for him before the big game.

“Get well, bro,” Ford said. “We’re going to play for you. I love you.”