Jeff Griffith
ASU Student Journalist

Injury-riddled Shadow Mountain prepares for uncertain future

September 26, 2017 by Jeff Griffith, Arizona State University


At first, Nainoa Shin didn’t think there was much of anything wrong with his right knee.

Late in the second quarter of his Shadow Mountain football team’s 19-12 loss to Greenway, the junior quarterback scrambled, planted to fake out a defender and felt the knee give out.

Focused on the game, Shin thought little of it.

“Alright, I can get through this,” he thought to himself after taking a few steps back to the huddle. “At least get to halftime, there’s only a couple of minutes left.”

Shin played the final minute of the half through some pain before sitting out the remainder of the night at the advice of both trainers in attendance.

“I was feeling fine,” he added.

Monday afternoon, an MRI told him a different story.

Shin, one of two major centerpieces of the Matadors’ offense, will be sidelined for the rest of his junior season with a tear to his right ACL.

“I still have faith in my team, but it sucks being out for the season,” he said. “They’re just going to have to do what they do, do what they’ve got to do to win.”

Shin wasn’t alone in his visit to the doctor. Joining him was his teammate, “brother” and fellow leading rusher for Shadow Mountain, junior running back Ronnie Fagan. Fagan, who experienced issues with his ankle early in the season, needed to have his own knee checked for a potentially similar injury. 

The doctor assured Fagan his case isn’t as bad; he’ll miss a week or two to take precautionary measures, but once his pain tolerance stabilizes, the 6-foot-1 junior will see the field again before season’s end.

The real pain didn’t hit Fagan until his best friend received far less positive news.

“It sucks, because he’s a brother of mine,” he said. “I knew I was hurt, but I was going to be okay, and when he told me he might have torn his ACL, it hurt a little bit. Him being there always, every single season I’ve played, and now not having him there, it’s going to be tough.

“It’s scary knowing your best friend is going through something like that.”

While Shin’s football talents won’t be available this season, he’s prepared to use his knowledge of the game to help the team moving forward.

“I have a high football IQ,” he said. “I can answer guys’ questions on where they need to be, what they have to do. Me being there without being on the field still helps.”

Shin’s injury marks another tough break for Shadow Mountain, which many expected to not feature a single victory. The Matadors — 2-3 halfway through the season — have suffered all three of their losses by no more than eight points.

Top receivers Matt Padilla and Jaelen Williams have also missed time with injuries this season. The Matadors opened this campaign with less than 35 players on their roster.

“This is our entire team,” head coach Ron Fagan said while surveying the less than 30 players taking part in Shadow Mountain practice. “We don’t even have enough for a scout team. If you look at the last game, we had one offensive skill player who started and stayed in the game. We have to use what we’ve got.

“This looks like a youth team. It’s just in numbers, these kids have heart, they want to play.”

But hope is not lost.

For one, Fagan expressed faith in his backup quarterback, junior Alex Pollard, who lost a tight position battle with Shin in preseason camp.

Even with moving pieces, he wants to make it clear that this season’s journey will go on as planned, even if a handful of key guys have to miss out.

“They’re still having fun, they’re still playing,” he said. “They’re still playing to win. But this is a game of numbers.”

While one eye will remain on a season that has grown grim due to a multitude of unexpected setbacks, another has to be on what lies ahead for an improving Matadors team in 2018.

Currently fielding a group that largely features only two seniors, Shadow Mountain will return nearly all of its core contributors — healthy and hungry — for their final seasons in blue and gold.

For Shin, that potential will largely push him through the unknown rehabilitation process that looms.

“If I have to go through rehab, I’m going to do whatever it takes to come back healthier,” he said. “Come back harder my senior year.”

His brother couldn’t agree more.

“This year, we expected ourselves to try and make a run,” Ronnie Fagan said. “Next year, this team is full of juniors, we’re excited. Especially for (Shin and I), we’re both going to come back hungry, it’s going to be exciting.”