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Tyren Buggs is back like he never left. The Callaway senior has battled through adversity to get back on the gridiron for his final run with the football team. When Buggs tore his ACL playing basketball in January, he was unsure if he would ever get back to playing football with the Cavaliers.

“I didn’t know how bad it was right away,” Buggs said. “I had jumped up, and as I came down I injured myself. I tried to get back up, and I couldn’t get back up again, and it felt like I just had to get carried by the athletic trainer and then I went to the doctor, and they had told me the bad news.

“I felt bad. I thought I wasn’t even gonna be able to get back out there at first. I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to play again, but he told me, if I did rehab correctly and did what I was supposed to, I was gonna be able to get back on the field. I put in the work and now I’m here.”

Buggs has put in a tremendous amount of work in the rehab process to get back for this season. After missing the first four games of the season recovering from his knee injury, Buggs returned with a vengeance against Redan on Sept. 19. The senior running back was a big absence in the opening weeks of the season. It showed against Redan as he turned 10 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

“It means everything, man, football is basically my life right now, my career,” Buggs said. “So it felt so good to get back out there and have a performance that I had. I still get that same feeling like when I first start playing football.”

Redan was a nice start to the season for Buggs, but he is eager for more. Last week’s game against Pike County was postponed due to inclement weather and the senior lamented not being able to get right back at it. However, this did allow him to get even more practice reps in after only getting back to practicing the Monday before the Redan game.

“It felt so good to be back out there practicing after a major setback,” Buggs said. “The ACL injury took months of training and hard work and it just felt so good to be back out there with the guys.”

Football was not always the no. 1 sport for Buggs. Basketball was where Buggs was at home growing up, but over the years football became his priority.

“I used to love basketball and I was good at both, but I just used to love basketball. But then, as I got older I started playing football and now it is what I want to play in college,” Buggs said.

Buggs is hoping this is not the final run on the football field as he aspires to play at the next level. The last five regular season games and the playoffs will serve as a platform for Buggs to show what he is made of to college scouts and coaches.

“It is a little difficult, but hopefully as I go on during the season, I keep making more plays and putting my name out there, and they’re gonna keep hearing it this season,” he said.

The excitement, the joy and the passion for football never left Buggs even when he was not sure what his future with the sport held. Now, the senior star is back, hoping to lead the Cavaliers on one final playoff run.