By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Last Wednesday, Elaine Simons came home after dropping one of her children off at school. The roads were icy and she urged her oldest son, junior Thane Simons to be careful.

Five minutes later she got the call no parent wants to get. 

“‘Mom, you need to come get me, I rolled the pickup,’” Elaine Simons said. 

Thane Simons describes driving slow and straight when the vehicle hit a slick spot. He tried to adjust by giving the vehicle a little glass but the vehicle flipped around, slid into the ditch and caught a tire. 

“I just remember in slow motion that glass was flying all around me,” Thane Simons said. “I was fortunate that it landed back on its wheels. I saw some blood on my face and felt like I was super fortunate it wasn’t worse.”

As the car started to roll Simons said his thoughts went immediately to not being able to play in the 9AA championship Friday where his Eagles were slated to play Parkston. 

“I was headed to a team breakfast and I had the dome in my mind,” he said. “Halfway through the roll I thought this cannot be happening right now.” 

Moments after his mom arrived on the scene Wall’s head coach Lex Heathershaw arrived. The pair were greeted by multiple cuts in and around his left eye. 

“We spent a bunch of time at the accident and were concerned about his facial structure and his upper and lower jaw,” Elaine Simons said.

Thane Simons shortly after a car accident Wednesday morning - Courtesy photo

Finding everything to be sound structurally, Simons went to the local clinic where it was confirmed he had several bad cuts with swelling starting to set in. 

So, Simons went back to school, attended several classes and jumped on the bus with his teammates for the trip to Sioux Falls. 

“(Wall senior) Cedar Amiotte brought some ice with him and I kept ice on it and just tried to keep the swelling down,” he said. 

Thursday morning he woke up with the eye almost swollen shut. Simons said he kept ice on it all day and by Friday morning the eye and the cuts around it started to look better. 

The biggest concern for the Wall coaching staff and the Simons family was if Thane’s helmet would fit correctly and or cause any further damage. 

“We practiced at Harrisburg High School on Wednesday and Thursday,” Simons said. “On Wednesday there was some swelling in my forehead that caused the helmet to fit a little funny. That got a little bit better each day and by Friday everything felt normal.” 

Just over 48 hours after a scary car accident Simons took the field like nothing had ever happened. The 6-foot-1, 170 pound junior started on offense, played special teams and even rotated in on defense. 

With Friday’s championship game still close, Simons hauled in a Burk Blasius pass and drug a Parkston defender with him across the goal line. That touchdown helped Wall extend the lead to 17-8 in a game they would eventually win, 34-14. 

“That was super cool,” Simons said. “Coach called the play in and I did just like in any practice. Burk put up a beautiful ball and once it happened I looked at the ref for the touchdown signal and it was just awesome.”