Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Prep football: Manatee's Lauro out for the season


photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie
 Manatee's Anthony Lauro is out for the year.
Coach Joe Kinnan said Lauro, a senior wide receiver/running back, underwent successful surgery Monday to repair a torn ligament in his left knee. Lauro suffered the knee Sept. 28 at Southeast.
"It's unfortunate that it happened," Kinnan said. "He's certainly had his fair share of injuries."
Lauro missed most of his sophomore season after tearing a meniscus and breaking the tibia in his right leg, and he underwent meniscus surgery against last year following December's Class 7A state final. Lauro had two touchdowns in the win over Jacksonville First Coast and led Manatee in receptions (51) while scoring 14 touchdowns last year and rushing for 631 yards.
"You're taking a lot of offense out of the mix," Kinnan said. "However, we have a lot of very talented people at the skill positions."
Manatee is 5-0 and ranked No.1 nationally by MaxPreps and USA Today thanks in part to an offense paced by quarterback Cord Sandberg and fueled by running back Trevon Walters (395 rushing yards, 19 receptions) and receivers Brodrick Yancy (12 catches) and Marquel Hines (12 catches, five touchdowns).
Kelvin McKnight started in Lauro's place Friday and had a rushing and receiving touchdown at Braden River.
"He's Ace Sanders' first cousin," Kinnan said of McKnight, "and he looks a lot like Ace."
Lauro earned scholarship offers from Akron and Western Kentucky last March, but the injury may impact his playing future.
"A lot of people were waiting to see how we would perform in his senior year," Kinnan said. "If he gets healthy and put this behind him, he can be a very good contributing player."
That said, replacing Lauro won't be easy.
"What he did was make the people around him better because of his work ethic," Kinnan said. "It's unfortunate."

2 comments:

  1. Kinnan you should have thought about his career last year when you could have use other players, but no you kept putting him in the game. To his parent you are fools to have let Coach Kinnan rude your sons careers. May God Bless you all and hope Lauro finally realize Coach Kinnan just wants to win he dont care about your body and no one elses.

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  2. Dear Anonymous.. It IS football & I am not talking powder puff football. It is a violent sport. Lauro needed all the play time he could get for scholarships & stats. It is sad that he got hurt & will miss the season. All of us Cane fans are broken hearted. Yes, Kinnan wants to win. But, he has never intentionally set out to hurt a player. It is the nature of the game. Thank God it is just his knee as it could be much worse. Back to the safety thing Kinnan makes sure his players have the top of the line safety equiptment. He is not the bad guy you are trying to make him out to be. His players love & respect him. That is all that matters. Prayers for a quick recovery Anthony. Your fans & team will miss you. How about they get you ANOTHER championship as a consolation? Sounds good to this girl. GO CANES GO!!!

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