ROGERS — Today’s Ticket
Fort Smith Southside at Rogers Heritage
KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Gates Stadium, Rogers
ON THE AIR: KHEL-FM 97.3; live webcast is available at www.khel973.com
RECORDS: Fort Smith Southside Rebels, 5-3, 3-2 7A-West Conference; Rogers Heritage War Eagles, 4-4, 2-3.
HOOTEN’S RANKING: Southside is No. 4 in Class 7A; Heritage is No. 10.
HOOTEN’S LINE: Southside by 3
Russell Gardner hasn’t played in a varsity football game for Rogers Heritage, but War Eagles coach Perry Escalante doesn’t measure Gardner’s contribution to the team in catches, carries or tackles.
The senior defensive back did not play last season after he was diagnosed with tachycardia, or an elevated heartbeat, in the spring of his sophomore year. But following a battery of tests that turned up no real explanation for the problem, his heartbeat was back to normal six months later.
Gardner (5-foot-9, 138 pounds), who played some on the junior varsity as a sophomore, is now back in a War Eagles uniform.
In the year in between, Gardner decided he still wanted to remain a part of the team even though he couldn’t participate on the field. That’s something that got Escalante’s attention.
“Rather than walking away, he said, ‘Can I do something else?’” Escalante said. “I said, ‘Sure, you’re a part of this program.’ He filmed for us last year and was a part of this team. He’s a great kid and his parents are great people.”
Gardner’s parents, Steve and Margaret, said it was a tough time for their family.
“We’d had never really had any serious health problems with any of us or our kids,” Steve Gardner said. “It was very scary. They tell you all these things, then you go to the Internet and look at all the things it could possibly be.”
Margaret Gardner said it started with her son complaining of some dizziness and fatigue after football practice in April 2009.
“It was weird because I was more tired after running a short sprint than if I went and ran a mile,” Russell Gardner said.
Gardner kept the problem to himself for a while, but his father said Russell finally told him. “He said one day, ‘My heart’s pounding so fast it feels like it’s going to come out of my chest,’” Steve Gardner said.
After several initial tests did not reveal any answers, Gardner was taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock in August 2009 to undergo a stress test and electrophysiology study, which involves inserting a catheter into the heart through a vein or artery.
“They thought there was a problem with the pacemaker part of the heart,” Margaret Gardner said. “But they couldn’t determine that anything was wrong. What they determined was everybody’s not the same. That for his age, this was his norm.”
But as mysteriously as the problems surfaced, six months later his heartbeat was back to what doctors called normal, Margaret Gardner said.
“It was kind of a miracle I guess,” Russell Gardner said. “Now I’m perfectly fine. My heart rate is 80 (beats per minute). Better than the 110 that it was.”
But Margaret Gardner figured out her son’s heart rate had always been a bit higher than his siblings, after looking back at past physicals.
Gardner was forced to sit out of football his junior season, but also got a different perspective of the War Eagles filming the games, Gardner said.
“It was frustrating having to sit out,” Gardner said. “At the same time it opened a new door and I got to be friends with the managers.”
But Gardner’s parents also said the Heritage players and coaches were a great help to Russell and his parents throughout the illness. “They were all great,” Steve Gardner said. “Coach E, all of them helped him quite a bit.”
Getting the chance to play football again has been a good thing, but not easy, Gardner said. “It was hard missing a year,” Gardner said. “I couldn’t do much weightlifting.”
But putting those pads back on for the first time after a year off was something special, Gardner said. Gardner returned to the team, despite the fact he would not likely play in a varsity or junior varsity game this season. He said the choice was easy.
“It was still fun,” Gardner said. “I was able to help however I could, whether it was on scout team or whatever.”
He also referenced something Escalante told him when asked about his reason for returning to the football team.
“He said when you commit to something you don’t just halfway do it,” Gardner said. “I’m going to be here and I’m going to give it all I can to help. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
That attitude definitely got Escalante’s attention.
“He’s the perfect embodiment of a team player,” Escalante said. “You’ve got to have those in a successful program. When you say team, you think of Russell Gardner.”