1. WAITING to enter the game , Fullback Mack Wallace watches th e action on the gridiron along with Coach lohn Prock. 2. DEEP in Southern Arkansas University 's terrritory, Quarterback 1 David lones cuts around the right end to chalk up more yardage for the Bisons. Out of action 116 Football In any sport an injury is often more disappointing than a loss of a game. Bouncing back from an injury to peak playing capacity is always hard, sometimes impossible. Klay Bartee was just one of a number of Bisons football team members who received injuries this year. Playing linebacker for the junior varsity squad the day after Harding's season opener, Bartee went down on the field with a broken leg. With his leg actually fractured in two places, Bartee knew he was out of action for the entire season. "As soon as it happened I knew I would be out, " he said. Of his other reactions he stated, "I was mostly disappointed and worried ahout getting it fixed. That was really a year's training down the drain." INJURED early in the season. Linebacker Klay Bartee gives moral support 011 the sidelines to his teammates. Realizing that Bartee and other injured players could easily lose out on seasons of eligibility and on their sports careers, the Bisons' coaches have the team practice preventive training techniques. Explaining, Bartee said, "We have a stretching program which puts flexibility into our muscles. Then we have a weight program which increases and strengthens the muscles that protect the bones - sort of like a cushion. " Even with the training program injuries still occur, as Bartee can well attest. To cope with injuries - the most common being pulled leg muscles, then sprained or twisted ankles and knee injuries - the football team had a team physician to call on, Dr. Jim Citty, and a certified athletic trainer, Kent Jones. One aspects of injuries that makes them harder on a team and an individual is their total unpredictability. "You have some during practice and some during games," explained Bartee. "You just can't predict how many or where they will happen, " - Brad Watson f,;a
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