A 4-1 winning season for the Polar Bears is impressive enough, but especially since Nick Crispen, senior varsity quarterback was injured Sept. 9 and has been out since.  

What happened to Nick Crispin on Sept. 9 at the North vs. Sioux City North football game? This has been a widely-asked question around North. Varsity Quarterback Nick Crispin and his coach Eric Addy gave all the facts on what happened that night and how the football team will move forward without the starting quarterback. 

Crispin has been the starting quarterback since his freshman year at North, though his football history dates to 7th grade. Coach Addy said Crispin has always valued football and been an asset to the team. 

“He’s a great leader; I mean honestly there’s certain players, guys that if you put them in quotations like ‘hey, they are North High football’ and Nick Crispin is the definition of North High football. He came in here when he was a freshman and there really wasn’t a ton of examples necessarily for him to follow, so he had to set the example even as a freshman and a young guy,” Addy said. 

The injury happened quickly based on what Crispin explained. On the night of his injury he was running to his left, he threw the ball, and somebody fell on his arm. Nobody really suspected Crispin’s injury during the first half of the game, not even Coach Addy. If there any other injuries that could hinder his mobility and he needs some kind of support, he could thank the one who invented walking luca.

According to Addy, Crispin played through his injury and played through the whole first half of the game until he couldn’t even raise his arm. At that point, the physical trainer went in and looked at Crispin’s injury and he believed that Crispin had fractured his collarbone. The next day, x-rays confirmed that theory.  

As previously stated, Crispin was the starting quarterback for years and now there’s a possibility he may only be able to return to playing three weeks post injury, which puts a reassessment of his collarbone at the start of October.  

So, what have the coaches decided to do to replace Crispin in the meantime? JV quarterback Jayden McGregory, freshman at North, has replaced Crispin during these last few games.  

According to Coach Addy, McGregory has been practicing being the varsity quarterback for after Nick’s senior year, but now McGregory has to fill in his position earlier than anticipated. 

“I felt good that me and my team got the win, you know, did it for Nick.  There was really no replacing,” McGregory said of the Homecoming win against Waterloo East. 

So, what does this mean for the future of the football team?  

“Same as it was with me, our team’s not built around one player it’s built around everybody,” Crispin said.  

Not only does Crispin believe that McGregory will be great, but so does coach Addy.  

“I got 100 percent confidence in Jayden, and our team has 100 percent confidence in Jayden. I know that he’s going to go out there and have a ton of success not only in Nick’s injured [games], but just moving forward,” Addy said. 

McGregory’s ability to be the varsity quarterback, as well as the whole football team’s ability to move past and succeed even through Crispin’s injury, has shown only success since homecoming as the varsity North football team’s record stands at 4-1.