When life deals you lemons, make lemonade. It’s hackneyed. Clichéd.

But true.

Adversity deals heartbreak, but can sometimes deal opportunity as well. For Warren Central defensive back Alex Sorrells and St. Aloysius lineman Hunter Matherne, life’s turn of the cards was one neither senior wanted.

Sorrells was injured in the second-half kickoff in the opener against Ocean Springs. He knew something was wrong with his left knee, but he played the rest of the game before an MRI the next week ended his season after revealing a torn ACL.

Something had been taken from him and the sting was one he’ll never forget.

“It crushed my heart,” Sorrells said of his reaction when he got the news. “Being out on that field is just one of those feelings you can’t get back.”

Matherne’s story has a similar tone.

He sustained a fracture of the L3 vertebra and a concussion last season while making a tackle against Mount Olive and missed the rest of the season, also nursing torn ligaments in his ankle. He tried a comeback, but realized the danger to himself with a serious back injury outweighed the joy of playing football.

“I am hard-headed,” Matherne said about his attempt to return. “But I realized that I’m heading off to college and I want to work and a broken back really limits me.”

But neither player wanted to wallow in self-pity.

They wanted to help their teams in any way possible.

WC coach Josh Morgan asked Sorrells if he’d call in signals and help out. Sorrells was only too happy to stay in the game.

“Once you’re a Warren Central Viking, you’re always a Warren Central Viking,” Sorrells said.

Same for Matherne. When asked if he’d like to help by getting on the headset and calling in defensive signals from assistant coach Jimmy Salmon in the booth, Matherne jumped at the chance.

“I still wanted to be a part of our team,” Matherne said. “It’s a new thing for me, but I enjoy still being at the game. I like being a senior leader, trying to lead the young guys because we’ve got such a young team.”

It was a case of two guys not wanting the game to pass them by. They wanted to still have some skin in the game, to help teammates with whom they’d played football for years and years of toil.

And while their contributions aren’t the ones they intended on the field, their impact transcends numbers on a box score.

They don’t miss a practice, except for a rehab stint. Or a game. They’ve traded their helmets and pads for coaches’ shirts, ball caps and headsets.

But pity them not. They’re still in the game.

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Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.