WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WTKR) — When Lafayette won its last Class 3 state championship, Tripp Hassell was attending Jamestown High School dreaming of playing that kind of game.
"I wasn't here freshman year to experience states," he said. "I wish I was, it would've been a lot of fun."
On Saturday, the senior linebacker will get to experience that joy when the Rams (12-2) face Liberty Christian Academy at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg for the state title.
"I just can't wait to be in the stadium with the boys I love and the family I love."
His journey to the final weekend of the season was very nearly ended in the first game of the 2022 season while playing against King George.
"I got crackbacked playing safety and I broke my L5 vertebrae," Hassell said. "I finished the game up and played the next two weeks until I physically couldn't walk anymore."
Essentially trying to tough it out through a broken back, the linebacker described his pain as "excruciating."
"It hurt every single time I moved, it hurt every time I breathed," the senior said. "All the nerves on the right side of my body were messed up."
"The first time I went to the doctor, he said 'You're never going to play sports again.'"
Hassell avoided surgery but was put into a back brace for six months. His wait to get clearance was even longer.
"He's got to work all the way back from that and to the point where three days before the season starts, maybe even two, he wasn't sure he was going to be able to play," said Lafayette head coach Andy Linn.
"It was torture, the rehab and everything," Hassell said.
Just 72 hours before the Rams kicked the 2023 campaign off, however, Hassell got the thumbs up to play.
"I'm going to be honest, I did cry. It was tears of joy," he remembered. "I needed to come back and play with my boys. I needed this."
"It was one of the more emotional days when he was approved by that doctor to play football again," Linn said. "I knew how much it meant to him."
The senior can help win Lafayette its third-ever state football championship this weekend. A battle he's fought more than a year for, getting his second shot when the odds looked to be against him.
"This will be the best comeback story," Hassell said. "I can't wait."
Lafayette and Liberty Christian kick things off in the Class 3 state championship game at 5:00 at Williams Stadium.
