Souhegan's Brayden Hickman, shown here in the regular season finale at Hollis Brookline, has made a huge comeback from a torn ACL suffered a year ago and will lead the Sabers into Saturday's Division II title game vs. Pelham. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

AMHERST – An injured Brayden Hickman watched from the sidelines a year ago when the Plymouth High School football team shocked his Souhegan Sabers by a point in last year’s Division II semifinals.

“It was awful,” Hickman said. “It’s the last game you get to see some of your friends on the football field, and obviously going out like that, losing, isn’t the way you want your last game to be. The heartbreak on your seniors faces, you could feel it yourself. It was not fun at all.”

Ahhhh, but what a difference a year makes. Hickman, now fully healthy, got to experience payback in a big way, catching a TD pass in a 36-7 rout of the Bobcats in the same semifinal round, and at the same place up north.

“Obviously, we turned it around this year, we got back at them, and the feeling of the team was priceless,” the senior said.

Hickman won’t have to watch the No. 4 Sabers in Saturday’s Division II finals vs.No. 2 Pelham; he’ll be an active participant after a super senior season.

When he came back for baseball late last season — that’s his main sport, he’s headed to Saint Anselm next year – it was for pitching only. No hitting, no running. So there was still more work to do if he wanted to go back to football.

“I worked my butt off in the off-season in recovery, just working the muscles back and everything,” Hickman said. “Just being able to come back onto the football field was in question. The timelines they were giving me were roughly when football was. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to achieve the goal for the start of the season.

“But just being able to come back and contribute and enjoy every minute with my teammates has just been awesome.”

So the first day of camp in mid-August was one to remember.

“Putting the pads back on was an awesome feeling,” he said. “My injury wasn’t even in my head. … It was kind of like getting back on a bike. Obviously, the running and stuff was something I hadn’t done in months. You’ve got to get the stone rolling a little bit.”

“You can’t say enough,” Sabers coach Robin Bowkett said. “He came back super quick from that ACL injury to help his baseball team in the spring. You certainly had doubts if he was going to be able to come back and play football. But he’s a kid who wouldn’t have been able to sit in the stands and watch his team play.”

Hickman has made his mark as a receiver but even more so as a defensive end. But the Sabers going into the preseason weren’t sure how Hickman would be used offensively. Would he be a quarterback? Go back to being a receiver? What was possible?

“My position was kind of up in the air, they weren’t sure where they were going to put me,” Hickman said. “But I was willing to go wherever they wanted just to help the team best.”

But quarterback was quickly eliminated because junior Michael Fiengo took the position in a way not everyone expected.

“He showed he was capable of running the offense, and I think they were happy to have me as a receiver again,” Hickman said.

Bowkett knew there’d still be an adjustment period in the comeback.

“You could see his confidence grow through the season,” he said. “You could see his confidence grow throughout the season. Maybe he was holding back a little bit early on, trying to test (his knee). But once he was getting tackled a little bit, it was starting to feel a little more natural. And maybe his knee felt even stronger. … Hickman kind of slowly quiet early on, but now he’s become one of our more explosive football players, and he’s had some of our big play touchdowns.”

Brayden Hickman delivers a pitch for Souhegan during his first game back after tearing his ACL in football in the fall of 2023. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

As a defensive end, Hickman likes giving the hits rather than taking them as a receiver, so that’s his favorite spot. And he’s good at it, having started on that side of the ball since he was a freshman.

“I call him an edge player,” Bowkett said. “He’s played some outside linebacker for us, he’s played some defensive end. But anytime a kid says they’d rather have his hand in the dirt, you’re ‘Yup. Sounds good.'”

He does the dirty work, taking on blocks, spilling the ball, meeting things in the backfield.

“You saw his physicality the other day,” Bowkett said. “He’s got a really good pass rush move. … He was causing some havoc back there.”

Saturday will be special in its own right. He’d like to be selected for the annual CHaD All-Star Game that takes place in June, but if not, Saturday’s final will be his last football game. Hard to imagine for a sport he’s been playing since he was about five-years-old.

“Football has a special place in my heart,” he said. “It will be the last time in a Souhegan jersey, but putting the pads on for the last time is definitely going to suck. Hopefully we go out with a win.”

Either way, Hickman has made his mark in Saber lore with his comeback.

“Just really happy for him,” Bowkett said. “Playing at such an elite level. He’s been a phenomenal captain for us. It just speaks to his work ethic and his toughness… I know the family and it’s an athletic family (his father is a Saber alum).”

“I think my story’s pretty cool,” Hickman said. “It’s pretty unique, not a lot of people have been able to (come back). But this Saturday is really my biggest focus, I don’t want to harp on the past as much as I want to harp on the future. The next moment.”

And it could be a shining moment at that.