College commitment: Avon Lake football player Aidan Stewart changes lanes to attend Kent State

Sometimes life is like football. Circumstances change and an audible is necessary to keep you in the game. That's what Avon Lake senior Aidan Stewart had to do to keep his football career alive. A severe knee injury suffered in the final game of his senior season derailed Stewart's plan to play football and serve his country at the United States Air Force Academy, but a new opportunity presented itself, and earlier this week he committed to continue attend Kent State University. "Because of the injury, I wouldn't have been able to meet the requirements to get into the Air Force Academy, so I had to decommit," Stewart said. "I knew it was late in the year to find another place, but the next day Coach Carney (Kent State head coach Mark Carney) and coach Conrad (Kent State special teams coordinator and tight ends coach C.J. Conrad, a Keystone alum), came to my school and offered me a spot at Kent State." Avon Lake coach Matt Kostelnik said Kent State had been interested in Stewart, a two-time All-Ohio selection, prior to his original commitment to Air Force. "Kent State was his first offer," Kostelnik said. "Coach Carney understood what went down and what happened. When they come with the offer, Aidan didn't waste any time taking him up on it." Stewart had surgery to repair tears in his anterior cruciate, medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments. He is hoping to be back on the field by fall, but that time table is still up in the air. There were some dark days for Stewart after the injury, but The Golden Flashes have served as a light at the end of the tunnel. "It's been pretty rough, the first year was bad," Stewart said. "I was stuck in bed for weeks, thinking, 'Will I ever play football again? "I'm kinda past all that. I'm walking and getting around better now. I'm just working on rehab and getting back to where I was before." Stewart said he has a daily rehab and physical therapy routine to help him get back to full strength. "It really feels like the coaches at Kent State believe in me with my knee," Stewart said. "I've had periods of doubt because it was a pretty bad knee injury, so it meant a lot that the coaches believed in me enough to come to the school and give me an offer." The recovery from his injury can take up to 12 months, so there's a chance Stewart won't play his next down until 2027. "It's looking like it might be right around the start of next season before I'm cleared. It might be a redshirt. I might be able to play in a game, but I'd say most likely redshirt," Stewart said. "Being able to go to a program like Kent State with good facilities and good people is a great opportunity and makes this entire situation much better." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.