AMERICUS —
Nothing was going to stop Michael Pollock from coaching his first game with the Americus-Sumter Panthers.
Not even an emergency appendectomy.
Pollock coached from his hospital bed at Phoebe Sumter as the Panthers beat Liberty County 28-7 on Friday. Defensive coordinator George Dean was the acting head coach as several of the coaches contributed to the offensive play-calling.
“Heck, when I was going into the operating room, I had my laptop computer on the bed with me, e-mailing coach (Steve) Smith, coach (Carl) Willis and coach Dean details of the game plan and what I wanted to do,” said Pollock. “I had a tremendous amount of faith in coach Dean, and it was a real good night for the kids, for the fans and for the program. It was a good way to start the season. We’re just trying to get things going in the right direction, and it’s always good to start off with a win.”
Pollock was scheduled to be released from the hospital a little after 4 p.m. Saturday. He still had some pain in his chest and shoulder, which is normal for that kind of surgery.
Pollock sensed pain late Wednesday night and after almost passing out at practice on Thursday, assistant coach Kagan McClain took him to After Hours Care. Pollock went to the emergency room later that night and had X-rays, a CAT Scan and a blood test done. That’s when he knew it was appendicitis.
Then about 5 a.m. Friday, he began texting his coaches to let them know that he was going to have an emergency appendectomy. Pollock said the surgery began around 10:30 a.m. When he came to, he said a lot of his family were at the hospital, and he had received text messages from fans and coaches from across the state.
“It was real nice,” he said.
Pollock talked to the coaches before and during the game, as well as both of his quarterbacks. Malik Thomas completed two passes in the game, and both went for touchdowns.
“They already knew what the game plan was; they were just fine-tuning it,” said Pollock. “I was relaying to them what I felt like we could really hurt them with. I told coach Dean the game was in his hands. I told them to not worry about what I thought; I trusted them. I didn’t want them to feel like they had to update me during games.”
But Willis and Panther Club president Rusty Whaley did. And each time his cell phone rang, Pollock anticipated the best.
“They had me on a pretty good amount of pain medicine, so I was feeling OK,” said Pollock. “Every time the phone rang, I didn’t know if it was good news or bad news. You worry about your boys, and you worry about your team. Thank goodness it was only one bad call.
“The roughest time was the lightning delay; that was the toughest hour. I felt defensively we would play good. Offensively, I felt like we had some things to get with. From what we scored on, those were plays I thought we had a chance to score on.
“I think they thought they could come over here and whip us. They beat LaGrange last year in the playoffs and at LaGrange; I think we surprised them a little bit. They were very confident before the game. I think we frustrated them early and stopping them the way we did on defense is probably something we’re not used to. I knew they could do it.”
The Panthers took a 14-7 lead into halftime after a leaping catch and run from Tryan Goober. They tacked on two more touchdowns for a 28-7 lead early in the third quarter after a Kedrick Jones 28-yard run and Thomas’ second touchdown toss.
“They carried it through like champs,” said Pollock of the coaching staff. “It’s a real credit when you’ve got people to take over. They should be commended. They really stepped up and took charge in my absence. They’ve been a very loyal staff and a hard-working staff since I’ve been here.”
Dean, who coached with Pollock when he was the head coach at Cook in 2001-02, said they knew what Pollock expected. But after the game, Dean said he didn’t want to give the win away, but he’d put it on his record.
“I knew he’d say something like that,” laughed Pollock. “I couldn’t be more proud. It’s been emotional with all the kids and coaches calling me. They were very excited. It’s all about the staff and kids. I can only be as good as they are. I think they’ve done a great job.”
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Pollock Chris Whitaker/ATR
Pollock at home after having emergency appendectomy
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