'It's gut-wrenching': Basha football suffers devastating blow with season-ending injury to LB Jack Bleier
Jack Bleier, the heart and soul of Chandler Basha's defense, will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Coach Chris McDonald confirmed that the linebacker suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in last week's 45-44 double-overtime win over Chandler Hamilton.
"It's gut-wrenching for Jack," McDonald said. "Knowing what he has gone through to put himself in this position."
Bleier, 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, was having one of the best seasons for a linebacker in the state this season. He had moved back to his natural position after being needed at edge rusher last season when he helped key the Bears' run to their first Open Division state football championship.
Bleier's injury was documented in this week's Beyond the Gridiron episode.
Basha has a bye this week, before taking on rival Chandler next week in a rematch of last year's Open semifinal game.
Through Basha's 6-1 start this year, he led the team with 60 tackles, seven tackles for losses and 13 quarterback hurries.
The senior had 217 total tackles and 14 sacks in his varsity career at Basha. Last season, he had 101 tackles, 20.5 for losses, and 10 sacks to go with 34 QB hurries.
Last year, Basha lost linebacker Wyatt Milkovich to a season-ending injury in the Open playoffs.
"Somebody's got to step up," McDonald said. "Our kids will come to battle for him.
"We just have to plug and play. Everybody's got to do their part."
McDonald said the most important thing is making sure Bleier gets through what will be a long rehabilitation process. He had yet to commit to a college, but McDonald believes Bleier is a Division I college linebacker and is hopeful a college will take a chance on him.
"What we're really thinking about is Bleier," McDonald said. "We're more concerned about him and his head space."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Basha linebacker Jack Bleier will miss rest of season with injury
