One of Selma’s most important players won’t be on the field Friday night when the Saints take on rival Southside, but he’s finding other ways to contribute.

Selma center Michael Davison tore his ACL at a football camp in July and will miss the entire season. Davison was going to start at center for the Saints and had already become the vocal leader of the team’s offensive line.

When he found out he wouldn’t be playing, it hit him hard.

“I just felt empty,” Davison said.

Football has been a major part of Davison’s life. He started playing at age nine and hasn’t skipped a year since.

He has started at guard the last two seasons for Selma and was the most experienced lineman the Saints had going into 2016.

This year he’d been moved to center, but head coach Keon Handley said the transition had gone smoothly.

“He would’ve been my starting center,” Handley said. “Hands down. No doubt.”

When the injury first happened, Davison didn’t think it was serious.

The team was working through blocking drills at Parker High School, and he felt a pop in his knee. He thought he’d overextended it.

“When I got home, the next day I went to the doctor. He said it was a slight tear so he sent me to another doctor in Montgomery, and I had to get a MRI and then I had to wait like a week for the results,” Davison said. “That’s when they told me, I tore my ACL, and I wouldn’t be able to play this year.”

The news hit Davison like a ton of bricks.

“Why did it have to be my senior year?” Davison said Tuesday with a tear streaming down his face.

After the initial shock wore off, he started to think of ways he could help the Saints this year, even if he’s not on the field. Since the injury, he’s been to every Selma practice, unless he had a doctor’s appointment.

Handley said just having him around has helped the team get better.

“The other day he came up here, and he didn’t have his knee brace on for the first time,” Handley said. “To see the smile on his face, it just made me feel good, and it makes the guys feel good to see him bouncing around. He’s a constant reminder that they have no excuse. We’ve got to keep working and we’ve got to keep pushing.”

Davison credited his parents, Rolanda Davison and Michael Davison, and teammates for helping him get through the early parts of his recovery.

Selma quarterback Kordez Ervin said the team is committed to playing even harder for Davison this year.

“We’re doing it for Mike. The whole O-line and the whole offense,” Ervin said. “We were sad that Mike got hurt. It was a bad feeling when we found out.”

Davison skipped second grade, so he’s only 16-years-old, but he’s already thinking about the future. He plans to study industrial maintenance and become a welder.

For now, he’s focused on making sure Selma’s football season is a great one.

He said he wasn’t sure what his role would be on Friday nights, but Handley already knows where he’ll be.

“He is going to in the box for us on Fridays, identifying fronts,” Handley said.

“Basically we have already started the next chapter in his life. Whether he knows it or not, he is going to be a great offensive line coach one day. The kid is special.”