ANNANDALE, MINN. – Isaiah Turner lifted the bottom of his shorts to reveal a scar etched along his right leg. Only part of the scar, he noted.

“It goes from my hip down to my knee,” he said.

The Annadale High senior paused for a second.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “I’m just grateful to be here.”

“Here” is a football field, his happy place. Turner wasn’t sure he would ever get to return to this spot as he lay in a hospital bed last October, awaiting another surgery in what felt like an endless series of them.

A seemingly routine tackle on a sweep run left Turner with a leg injury that required six surgeries over 12 days and could have resulted in amputation had his parents not brought him to the emergency room as soon as they did.

Turner initially thought he had suffered an ankle injury when two defenders brought him to the ground. The diagnosis was much more serious: compartment syndrome, a painful condition caused by an increase in pressure around muscles, restricting blood flow.

Compartment syndrome injuries typically occur in the calf muscle. Turner’s injury occurred in his thigh, a rare occurrence.

That he’s healthy and back leading the state’s top-ranked team in Class 3A is a testament to many factors, including his unconquerable spirit. Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of his injury. He hopes — no, expects — to be playing college football somewhere this time next year.

“I put a goal of, I’m not going to have anybody tell me what I’m going to be able to do,” he said. “I’m not going to give up on my dream.”

Turner is a dynamic athlete who does a little of everything for the undefeated Cardinals (6-0). He plays running back, lines up as a slot receiver, returns punts and kickoffs and takes snaps as a wildcat quarterback.

“We move him wherever we need to, to get him touches,” coach Matt Walter said.

The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 254-29 this season, so Turner has played in only 15 of the 24 quarters. He averages 9.5 yards per carry, with three rushing touchdowns.

“I actually came back this season faster than I’ve ever been, stronger than I’ve ever been,” he said.

That statement covers a lot of distance when using Oct. 11, 2024, as a starting point. The injury happened in the fourth quarter of a road game against Foley. Turner rode the team bus home but could barely walk by the time they reached school. He shuffled like a penguin to his car.

“I had no function in my leg at all. Zero,” he said.

His dad, Luke, and three younger brothers carried him into their house when he got home.

The family figured it was a deep thigh bruise. When the swelling continued the next day, his mom, Joy, took him to urgent care. They were sent immediately to the emergency room for surgery. His thigh was so stiff and swollen that his muscle popped out above his skin after surgeons made an incision.

“The muscle was getting strangled in there and needed to breathe,” Joy said.

The pain was excruciating. Turner couldn’t wiggle his toes after the initial surgery.

“I’m like, something might be seriously wrong here,” he said. “It was kind of scary at that point.”

It was only the beginning. He underwent a series of surgeries to clean out the area and treat it with antibiotics. But Turner kept running high fevers and feeling miserable after each procedure.

“Every time they went in there, they washed it out, and it looked good,” Joy said. “They didn’t understand why he was getting these fevers and getting so sick.”

Doctors discovered the problem after cutting deeper into the muscle: a piece of dead muscle the size of a tennis ball in his upper thigh.

His hospitalization lasted nearly a month. His teammates visited him every day.

“There was not a night that went by that he was alone,” said Joy, who is dean of students at Annandale High. “And they would stay for hours.”

The team gave him another surprise. Younger brother Josiah was a freshman in the program last season. He called the hospital one day just as his brother was coming out of surgery. He wanted to know if it was OK if he wore Isaiah’s No. 41 jersey in the section playoff game against Spectrum.

Yes, Isaiah told him, with a reminder to play hard.

The coaching staff secretly planned to get Josiah carries, hoping he would score a touchdown because they knew Isaiah was watching the game on livestream from the hospital.

The scene unfolded perfectly. Josiah scored. Walter broke his own rule by allowing his players to storm the end zone to celebrate. Isaiah watched it all from his hospital bed, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“That was the happiest I ever was in the hospital,” he said. “There were a lot of dark moments. But when I saw that, it was like I wasn’t even in this world. It was just a special moment.”

Turner’s recovery amazed his doctors and revealed his determination. He started on a walker, then crutches, then walking without assistance, then jogging. He was able to sprint only four months post-surgery.

“That’s the moment where I was like, yeah, the story’s not over,” he said.

He rehabbed so hard that therapists told him his damaged leg had become stronger than his other leg. Cleared to compete in a 7-on-7 league in the spring, Turner suffered a minor knee injury that requires him to wear a knee brace.

The scar is only a reminder of the trauma he experienced. He has no physical limitations.

“He plays fearless,” Walter said. “And he … loves … football.”

His coach drew out that sentence for emphasis. Turner’s recovery and subsequent knee injury prevented him from attending summer camps that are an important part of the recruiting process. He hopes his performance this season shows college coaches that his injury was merely a hurdle he cleared — and that he landed stronger on the other side.

“Obviously, it is not a great thing that it happened, but that it did happen makes me glad knowing that I will be able to battle anything in the future,” he said. “No challenge or obstacle in life is going to stop me.”

...

FOOTBALL ACROSS MINNESOTA

Game balls

James Engle: The Maple Grove senior rushed for 220 yards and five touchdowns on 18 carries as top-ranked Crimson remained undefeated with a tough 35-24 victory over St. Michael-Albertville.

Carson Wentz: Despite his team missing four offensive line starters, the Vikings quarterback completed nine consecutive passes on a game-winning drive with three minutes left in a 24-21 victory over Cleveland in London.

Devin Williams: The Bethel senior defensive back recorded 11 tackles (one for loss) and an interception as the Royals defense held St. John’s to one touchdown in a 17-10 victory.

Social shoutouts

The best things we saw on social media this week:

Almost, again: Anoka’s amazing season continued Friday, and this is not your typical “amazing season.” The Tornadoes are winless, but they’ve been battling hard. On Friday, they scored at the end of the game but had their two-point conversion denied — a saga summed up nicely here.

Incredible INT: Plays like this are why Bethel’s Devin Williams gets a game ball.

Wentz’s winner: The backup QB came up clutch, and Jordan Addison’s catch was equally impressive.

He said what?!

“Like I told our team, some nights you just get your butt kicked, and we got our butt kicked.”

— Gophers coach P.J. Fleck, summing up his team’s 42-3 loss to No. 1 Ohio State.

...

Numbers to know

12 Interceptions by Minnesota Duluth’s defense, tied for second nationally in Division II.

39 Consecutive games won by Minneota, the top-ranked team in Class 1A.

662 Career completions for Carleton’s Jack Curtis, a program record. Curtis also set a program record for career touchdown passes with 68.

Grab your popcorn

Byron at Stewartville, 7 p.m., Friday

Byron is undefeated, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A and coming off a big win vs. Kasson-Mantorville. The Bears will have to refocus quickly with a tough road test. Stewartville moved up to Class 4A this season after winning back-to-back 3A state championships. The Tigers are 5-1, their only loss coming against Kasson-Mantorville.

A FAM final word

“Vacation.”

The Vikings sorely need their bye week to recharge after a two-game European trip and to allow players to heal. They have managed to keep the early season afloat despite their offensive line being decimated by injuries. They need some good luck in that area coming out of their bye.

. . .

Thank you for reading Football Across Minnesota (FAM), my weekly column that tours football topics in our state from preps to pros. FAM will publish midday on Tuesdays. I appreciate feedback, so please reach out any time. — Chip (email: anthony.scoggins@startribune.com; on X: @chipscoggins)