varsity.roanoke.com

JOSH MELTZER The Roanoke Times

Senior quarterback Alan Castro relaxes with his teammates between drills during Hidden Valley's first practice of the season Friday.

JOSH MELTZER The Roanoke Times

Hidden Valley quarterback Alan Castro shows off a wound he received during the first day of practice . After a summer of conditioning and rehab, Castro has no doubts about returning for his senior year.

Why doesn't he just give up?

How can he come back again?

Hidden Valley's Alan Castro has heard those questions.

For the 6-foot, 190-pound senior, the answer is always the same: He is again returning to the football field because of his love for a sport that hasn't always loved him.

That passion, combined with a fierce competitive nature, has driven Castro through rehabilitation from three major knee injuries in less than three years.

During his high school career, Castro has torn the medial collateral ligament in both knees, the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and the ACL in his left knee twice. Three surgeries and extensive rehab sessions have prevented the veteran quarterback from completing each of the last two seasons.

Castro's long and frustrating ordeal began during his freshman season at Cave Spring, where he played in just two games before getting hurt.

"It was in practice going into the third game of the year," Castro said. "My right knee just got caught in the ground and I got hit from up top, so half my body got pulled in a different direction."

Castro, who transferred to North Cross before the 2006 season, made a full recovery and cruised through his first eight games with the Raiders, passing for 1,869 yards and 18 touchdowns for a 2-7 team.

Then disaster struck again.

During a practice before the final game of the season, Castro went down, this time with pain in his left knee.

"It happened in tackling drills, which was the first time I had been doing those the whole season," Castro said. "It was the same kind of deal where I just planted and it tore."

After transferring to Hidden Valley last year, Castro claimed the Titans' starting quarterback job.

He made it through practice without any problems, but the injury to his left knee resurfaced in a November game against Blacksburg.

"At first they thought it was just scar tissue from the other surgeries," Castro said. "Then I got the MRI back and it was a meniscus tear and an ACL tear."

Castro was in the midst of a very strong season. He had passed 1,291 yards and 11 touchdowns, completing 55 percent of his passes while throwing just six interceptions. Castro had 166 passing yards and two TDs in a 21-20 loss to four-time River Ridge District champion Salem.

The injury left him devastated, but Castro knew that it was beyond his control.

"It wasn't something that I could think about," Castro said. "And to be honest, I didn't want to."

Despite another surgery and a difficult summer agenda of running and conditioning, Castro had no doubts about returning for his senior year at Hidden Valley, which finished 5-5 in 2007.

Fellow Hidden Valley senior Matt Aiken, a first-team All-Timesland receiver last year who has been Castro's best friend since grade school, worked with the quarterback throughout his summer rehab.

"He was a little discouraged at first, but he's just working hard," said Aiken, who caught 35 passes for 702 yards and eight TDs. "I think he is used to the rehab and everything now."

Castro is also quick to credit his work at The Edge Sports Performance Center in Roanoke. He began a personalized workout plan at the facility in November of 2007.

"We felt like he had babied the injury in the past, so we wanted to push it with more cuts and movements similar to what he would do on the field," said Robbie Herbert, the director of sports performance at The Edge. "I am very pleased with the results. Alan has worked very hard."

Castro opted for a different surgery this time around, and the results have left him feeling stronger and quicker than ever.

"I got the cadaver graft instead of the hamstring graft, and that's progressed better this offseason than any other offseason," Castro said. "I definitely feel better going into this season than any of the other ones."

Injuries have also taken their toll on Castro's dream of playing at the collegiate level. Early in his career, Division I-A programs such as Louisville and UConn had shown interest in the strong-armed prodigy.

Castro still has hopes of playing in college, but he understands that many schools have been turned off by the injuries.

"I would be perfectly happy just to go to school somewhere for the school part of it," Castro said. "It doesn't have to be with athletics. I definitely wouldn't regret anything."

The Titans opened practice on Friday, and Castro was there, taking snaps for the same team for the first time in his career. He is optimistic about Hidden Valley's prospects in 2008, but he is just as excited to be back on any field.

"I just can't imagine not playing," Castro said. "I couldn't sit in the stands on Friday nights and watch the game. I have to be out there."