This story originally appeared in the June 16 edition of the weekly LINK Reader. To get these stories first, subscribe at linknky.com/subscribe.
Friday, Oct. 14, 2022, will always be a day Mitchell Berger looks back on with a range of emotions as wide as the running lanes he burst through for the Beechwood High School football team.
Playing at home against Lloyd Memorial High School, Berger propelled the Tigers to a halftime lead with yet another do-it-all performance. It was early in the third quarter and Beechwood was leading 14-7 thanks to Berger, who already had nearly 200 total yards. He rambled for 156 yards on 20 carries with both Tiger touchdowns, a 9-yard run and a 36-yarder.
Berger added two receptions for 39 yards, converted both extra-point kicks, kicked off and played linebacker for the Tigers, who won, 34-7. But the play he’ll remember most is the one that ended his year prematurely after eight games.
Berger was running near the sideline. He was hit and landed awkwardly. There was pain in his left knee. Eventually there were all the emotions that come with learning surgery is required to fix an injury. Those emotions welled up within him and lasted for weeks.
When you’re 18 years old and considered one of the best prep football players in the state, the last thing you want to hear is you’re out for the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a meniscus tear.
It was an unfathomable outcome. Berger was a leading contender for Kentucky’s Mr. Football. With 1,119 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns, Berger was on a 15-game senior season pace for 2,098 rushing yards and 39 TDs. With a state-leading 162 points, he was on pace for 303.
The Tigers finished 14-1 and won the Class 2A state championship for the third straight year. Berger was on the sidelines for the final seven games. Even so, he was named first-team, all-area at running back and linebacker by the Northern Kentucky Football Coaches Association and the local Class 2A-3A-4A player of the year.
“They were heartbroken for me,” Berger said of his coaches. “It was really tough on everyone, especially my parents.”
Berger’s mother is a Beechwood booster. His father, Brandon Berger, is a Beechwood assistant football coach.
“I felt so terrible for Mitchell. That was as somber of a football stadium as I have ever been in,” he said. “It was easy to see how much Mitchell meant to his teammates, coaches and the community, with many tears shed by all. Our family was distraught, but the community rallied around all of us to help us get through this tough time.”
Add in that Mitchell Berger is also considered one of the best prep baseball players in Kentucky, heading to Eastern Kentucky University to play baseball, and his ordeal becomes a multipart story that impacts several teams.
“Probably never felt more gut-wrenched in my life when I found out about the injury,” Beechwood baseball coach Kevin Gray said. “To me it was, why him? He’s a hard-working player. A great kid. I think he would have won Mr. Football. He was considered to be one of the top baseball players in the state. It was very, very, very terrible.”
Mitchell Berger and Gray shared a meal after Berger’s surgery.
“We were going to do what’s best for him,” Gray said. “I told him he was going to be there for us all season, help with the pitchers, and we weren’t going to push it. We hugged, and we cried.”
The baseball team’s season ended with a 3-0 state tournament first-round loss to Apollo High School. Gray imagined alternatives with a healthy Berger, who was 7-0 as a junior with a 2.45 ERA. He hit .400 with six home runs.
“Our philosophy in the state tournament is you can’t win game two without winning game one,” Gray said. “Mitchell would have been our best option on the mound, and he would have been hitting. We had a moment after the game with Apollo. We both wondered what might have been.”
As the days go by, there’s more certainty for Mitchell Berger, who senses optimism creeping in. After such a plummeting low, he’s ready to return to soaring highs. The timeline for recovery is nine to 12 months.
“I’m so proud of Mitchell for the way he attacked his rehab,” his father said. “He is going to the gym six days a week and meal-prepping to make sure his body is where he wants it to be. Hopefully, he will be cleared in late July and be ready to go for fall ball at EKU.”
EKU coaches called soon after the injury to state their confidence.
“I’m just sticking to the path right now,” Mitchell Berger said. “I’m really grateful for the Beechwood community during this whole thing. I want to give a big shout-out to coach Kevin Gray and coach Noel Rash for helping me through it and doing what’s best for me.”