Sidelined, Carmel's Turner looks ahead to bright future
This wasn't the homecoming Noah Turner envisioned for his senior year of football.
A week after he and his Carmel Catholic teammates scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to capture a thrilling win over St. Patrick, Turner was in street clothes Friday night as the Corsairs hosted St. Viator.
“Walking out and holding hands with (teammate) Rondel (Jamison) ... I'm so used to being dressed in full pads,” Turner said Saturday, a day after Carmel beat St. Viator 21-7 for its third win in a row, all against East Suburban Catholic Conference opponents. “It was a little hard to take in, but it's reality. You just got to keep your head up. Now it's time to be healthy for the future.”
Carmel will play the rest of the season without Turner, the 6-foot-3, 238-pound senior tight end and University of North Carolina commit, who has a stress fracture in the navicular bone of his left foot.
“I basically played on it the whole season,” Turner said. “It happens over time. It started bothering me a lot last week.”
Turner played the previous Saturday against host St. Patrick at Hanson Stadium in Chicago and caught 1 pass for 12 yards, as the Corsairs rallied for a 42-34 win. He had X-rays and an MRI last Tuesday. He said he is scheduled to have surgery this Tuesday. A pin will be inserted in his foot, and he's expected to be in a cast and on crutches for six weeks.
Turner says he has high arches, which can cause stress fractures.
“That's really the main reason why this occurred,” he said. “I have really high arches and tight calves, and that causes just a lot of stress on that (navicular) bone.”
Once he gets through the surgery and allows time for the bone to heal, there should be no lingering effects. He does not play a winter or spring sport.
“My doctor said if (the bone) heals properly, everything will be all right and I'll have no restrictions,” Turner said. “Out of the cast, I could be back up and working out again.”
Turner knew his injury was serious when Carmel played Joliet Catholic in Week 3. He played the following Saturday against Marian Catholic and caught his only touchdown pass of the season in helping the Corsairs win their first game of the season.
“It was definitely against Joliet Catholic when it really, really started bothering me,” said Turner, a three-year varsity starter who has 10 receptions for 151 yards this season. “I started to feel a lot of pain.”
Turner said he talked to North Carolina's coaches, who've been supportive.
“It's hard for me obviously because it's my senior year, and they feel that pain, but they also want to see me healthy for next year,” Turner said. “Thankfully it's not too big of an injury that involves a lot of rehab. It's just six weeks of not doing anything really. (UNC's coaches) are in good spirits and they'll trust that I'll come back even better.”
While Turner may be done playing high school football, he is not done with the Corsairs. He plans to be around the team and, in fact, hopes to coach up fellow senior Zavier Barnes, who played tight end against St. Viator. Barnes has played quarterback and running back as well as defensive back this season.
“He never played (tight end) before and didn't know any of the plays, and he stepped up,” Turner said. “He learned all the plays, and (Friday) night he played great. I'm just going to be another coach out there. I'm going to try to help him and give him the knowledge I have of the position.”