It’s a play Morgan Craft would rather forget, but one he will likely remember for the rest of his life.
It was a Monday practice and Picayune High School was just eight games into its 2023 baseball season when the then-junior first baseman went to field a routine popup and was called off by his second baseman.
“When he called me off, I turned to avoid hitting him and when I did, I heard my knee pop,” Craft recalled. “It felt like my body just stopped for a second.”
Initially, coaches and trainers thought he had just strained his knee, but an MRI revealed that he had torn his ACL and damaged his meniscus.
At the time, Craft was batting .400 and leading the Coast in hits and RBIs.
He played 12 more games after the injury before finally having surgery.
“It was very tough,” Craft said. “We were having a great season and I was on point to be district player of the year. I just thought it was a little knee pain, but when we got the MRI back, there was not much we could do. I knew it would get fixed, but I did everything I could to give my team a decent run to the playoffs.”
Despite the season-ending injury, Craft still made the all-district squad as he watched his team from the dugout make a playoff run and come up just short to eventual Class 5A state champion East Central.
His baseball season was done and now Craft was looking at months of rehabilitation after surgery that would require part of his patella tendon to be used to make a new ACL and four anchors placed in his meniscus.
Also, as one of the top placekickers on the Mississippi Coast and in the state, Craft endured six months of rehabilitation on his kicking leg as he focused on getting back on the gridiron for the two-time defending state champion Maroon Tide in their quest to make a third straight state title run.
WORKING HIS WAY BACK
Craft said when he first met with his surgeon, the doctor told him he might not be able to play his senior year of football.
“It was very tough,” said Craft. “I couldn’t walk for a month and a half. Could barely sleep, go to school all day and then therapy and then watch them practice and play. It was the toughest thing ever for me. ACL injuries are pretty common for athletes, but most people don’t know what it’s like to come back from that.”
Through social media posts, his father, Timmy Craft, chronicled Morgan’s recovery from walking with crutches to running on a treadmill and eventually splitting the uprights with his repaired kicking leg.
“He had to helplessly sit in the dugout and watch his baseball teammates take the eventual state champions to a decisive game 3 in the 3rd round of the state playoffs and come up one swing of the bat short of possibly winning it all,” Timmy Craft said in an Oct. 2, 2023, post—also the day Morgan got his full release from doctors.
“He had to miss the state games, the all-star games, the showcases, and everything potential recruits do in the summer to improve their stock in both sports.”
Timmy and Morgan credit a rigorous rehab program from Picayune Physical Therapy that got him back on the football field ahead of schedule.
“We can’t thank Ernie Landrum, Laura Landrum and Picayune Physical Therapy enough for what they have done,” Timmy posted on social media. “They designed a rigorous therapy protocol to suit a placekicker and were able to get Morgan on this field 6-8 weeks ahead of schedule.
“Incredible results for a special and determined athlete, from people who cared about him, his treatment, and getting him back on the field.”
Morgan said Picayune Physical Therapy prepared him for every possible scenario on the field.
The mental aspect has been the hardest.
“Everything they put me through prepared me physically,” said Morgan. “But you have to learn to trust your body to do what you’ve done your entire life.”
INSPIRING COACHES AND TEAMMATES
Maroon Tide football coach Cody Stogner said it was tough not having Craft for the first five games of the season.
“Honestly, it sucked,” said Stogner. “He was a huge weapon, not just on kickoffs, but he was automatic on extra points. We had some guys who stepped up in his absence and Morgan was there every day coaching them up.”
Morgan returned to the field Oct. 6 and drilled six extra points in a 51-14 homecoming win against Pascagoula. That same day, he received his first offer from Pearl River Community College and committed to the Wildcats a month later.
“I took it all in,” said Craft of that first game back on the gridiron. “I didn’t take a single thing for granted my senior year on the football field.”
The Maroon Tide claimed the region title and advanced to the South State championship game at West Jones, where their quest for a three-peat unfortunately came to an end.
Stogner said the four-year starter was a true leader in helping Picayune win consecutive state championships.
“His leadership and drive to get himself better made the rest of the team better,” said Stogner. “He was already a good kicker as a freshman, but it was fun to watch him grow and get better each year.
“We’re going to miss him. Watching what he went through and how he bounced back inspires me to be better. PRCC is getting a really good player and person.”
After signing with PRCC earlier this month to play both baseball and football, Craft is now turning his sights on some unfinished business—helping to lead his team to another baseball postseason berth. And this time, doing it on the field instead of from the bench.
“He was missed last year,” said Maroon Tide baseball coach Evan Nichelson. “He was leading us in hitting throughout the first half of the season. Having him in there gives us more length in the lineup. I think he’s going to have a great year.”
Nichelson said Craft coming back from such a tough injury is a testament to his strong work ethic.
“He’s the type of kid that coaches love,” said Nichelson. “He shows up the same every day and gets after it.”
Craft said the team goals are still the same when it comes to this baseball season, but he’s more appreciative now after his injury of just getting the chance to play the game again.
“A lot of kids don’t have the opportunity to play high school baseball,” said Craft. “My goals, honestly, are to go out there and say I gave it my all, take it all in and enjoy every moment I can.”
