High school football: Firelands' D'Mari Campbell staying focused after injuries derailed previous two seasons

Now that D'Mari Campbell has shaken his injury, he can shake defenders. After missing his first two seasons with a nagging leg injury, the junior running back worked back into the rotation the first three games and in Week 4 led Firelands with 16 carries for 137 yards and three touchdowns during a 40-20 win against Brookside last Friday. "D'Mari has had an unfortunate start to his high school career," Firelands coach Ryan O'Rourke said. "He missed his entire freshman year breaking a leg in a scrimmage then a continuous set of circumstances his sophomore year. We always knew he had great vision and speed through the hole, so it's very cool to see that come together for him. It's been nice to have him on the field this year for sure." Campbell broke his leg during a scrimmage against Rocky River in 2023. He took his first varsity carry to the outside and tried to spin, but his leg twisted and his season ended before it could begin. He recovered in time to wrestle in the winter, but come sophomore year he still had some complications stemming from the injury. He aggravated it in a junior varsity game and missed the remainder of the season. "It had been a long time since I played," Campbell said. "That freshman year kind of sucked. I played a JV game sophomore year, but now I'm back and ready. I've just been waiting for it. Not being able to come back was hard. I just wanted to be back playing the game." Campbell said wrestling, which he's done all his life, helped strengthen his leg while also improving its flexibility for his junior year. O'Rourke said this offseason Campbell entered camp without the injury nagging him like it did last year, which gave him a mental boost. Once Campbell took that first hit in a scrimmage and bounced back, O'Rourke said the team could start seeing him reach the potential everyone knew he had. "I was nervous," Campbell said. "I thought I lost my touch a little bit. Thought I would be rusty trying to get back into everything. But once I got put in, everything came back. I got used to everything really quickly." Campbell's availability couldn't have come at a better time as injuries to the Falcons backfield have piled up. The team lost running back Jimmy Berry to a torn ACL during the seven-on-seven portion of the preseason. Nathan Rowley and Campbell split the backfield touches through the team's first three games. Campbell had 70 yards on 15 carries while Rowley received 16 carries for 65 yards during that span. But when Rowley sustained a back injury in Week 3 against Bay, Campbell served as the feature back against Brookside. "Any time you see a kid do it for the first time in a competitive setting it's really cool," O'Rourke said. "He obviously played very well. There were moments where it wasn't necessarily blocked up perfectly, but he has very good vision and is explosive through the hole. He might not be the biggest kid, but he runs really hard. He certainly lifted our offense up in some key moments." The team hopes to get Rowley back at some point, and O'Rourke said Firelands will continue to deploy the two in tandem as it did during the first three games. The Falcons, and Campbell, hope to build off their first win when they face Oberlin tonight at 7 o'clock. "It felt good, but I'm just trying to focus on the next game," Campbell said. "Just continue to build off of what I've done. We had a tough schedule, but looking forward to our conference, we were just thirsty for that first win. I thought everyone brought it tough to them." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.