GILBERT, Ariz. — The pads were popping at Perry High School on Tuesday, but not as loud as they usually do.
Their hardest hitter was sidelined with an uncommon injury and is in danger of missing the rest of the season.
"The days I've been out for practice, I've just been trying to work outside. Just trying to get ready for the next time I come back," sophomore defensive lineman Everett Watson said.
Watson broke his prosthetic foot in last week's game against Williams Field.
"I was trying to push this guy and then my leg just started to get lighter," Watson said.
"He was calling me over to the bench, 'Hey coach, hey coach. And he hands me his foot, like, 'I broke my foot,'" head coach Mike Beaudoin said.
This was not a typical fracture— the pain is sharper now than it was at the moment.
"I don't want people to know that I have a prosthetic," Watson said. "I used to be embarrassed by it. People used to make fun of me and call me names."
Watson had his foot taken a few years ago. He was a victim of a shooting when he was 12.
"It was a cycle of me running to crawling, to trying to drag myself out of the fire. They shot I think 28 times. Luckily I think two hit me," Watson said.
But one of those bullets hit a major artery and doctors decided to amputate.
"You won't know what you have until you lose it," Watson said.
That same sentiment can be applied to the current moment.
"I had that (prosthetic) foot for four years and they told me I wasn't supposed to have it for that long," Watson added.
Watson needs an athletic prosthetic to get back for the last two games.
His family doesn't have insurance until December. His extended family at the high school is trying to raise enough money.
"He really needs two prosthetics. He needs the one that is going to be his everyday leg and he needs the one that is going to help him with sports," Marin Golden, a team parent, said.
Golden has started a GoFundMe and almost $16,000 has poured in. Every penny will serve a purpose.
"Everett was having to duct tape his foot together to just kind of keep it going," Golden said.
The purpose is bigger than a single foot. For Watson, it's football that's everything.
"Everett's commitment and drive and his unstoppable-ness is I think the thing that people keep getting so connected to," Golden added.
For now, all Watson can do is speak from the sidelines, hoping his words can hit as hard as his pads.
"I'm really appreciative. I'm really blessed," Watson said.