Gents lose tight end Cavell to season ending injury

CROWLEY – The injury bug is nothing new for the Crowley Gents this season.
After all, they played without five starters last Thursday against Rayne (one offensive and four defensive) and one of the injured players — Kaj LeMaire — is out for the season with a torn MCL and ACL.
But what happened in that Acadia Parish rivalry last week made a bad situation even worse — and it proved to be much more serious than anyone had thought.
It all started when senior Thomas Cavell went down late in the third quarter with what appeared to be a rib injury.
Cavell was fielding a kickoff when he got tied up with one of his own players and sustained a bone-crushing hit that jarred the ball loose.
Cavell was eventually able to walk off the field, but after only a few minutes, he was taken to the hospital where it was eventually determined that he had sustained a lacerated spleen.
“He took a big hit,” said Fontenot. “It was a clean hit, he just got nailed. And the way he had his body turned, it was all exposed right there.”
Cavell struggled through two difficult days in the hospital before showing signs of improvement.
“Thomas took a turn for the better Saturday night when his fever finally broke,” said Fontenot. “It was rough going there and he had some rough days, especially Friday and Saturday. His body was just fighting the trauma. It was basically like he was in a bad car wreck.”
The good news is that although he is still in considerable pain, Cavell is recovering and should be discharged from the hospital on Wednesday.
“Right now, it’s really a lot of observation and just making sure nothing goes wrong in there again,” said Fontenot.
The loss of Cavell is a huge blow to the Gents, who had relied heavily on the senior on offense as well as on special teams. He had 13 receptions for 197 yards and two touchdowns and was averaging 40 yards per punt return prior to the injury.
The big loss, however, will be what Cavell meant to the team in general.
“He is a leader and we’ll miss him,” said Fontenot. “It’s going to affect us a lot. He’s a guy that everyone likes having around and he’s very much a team guy. I want to get him back to where he can at least come watch practice and be around the kids.”
Fontenot said Cavell’s recovery will take time, but the prognosis is good.
“He will have about a month where he can’t do much of anything, barely even walk,” said Fontenot.
“But he will be okay.