It is that community and beyond that is rallying around a senior football player and his family.

On Friday, October 30th, the Highland Hornets football team lined up for the second half kick off against Cloverleaf High School. The game took a tragic turn.

"(Kory Wiita) went in and made the tackle. It was a good tackle. He kind of went in low and then another player went in high and then somehow in there something must have went wrong," described Lombardo.

Wiita was rushed to the hospital.

Doctors found three fractured vertebra. Kory had two surgeries this week according to a Caring Bridge blog posting by his father, Dan Wiita.

"You probably see thousands of those on a Friday night across the country. Two guys making a tackle at the same time that's really what it was. Kory was probably in there first and (it was) just a fluke," said Lombardo.

Lombardo said Kori as a 4.6 student and third in his class. 

"I picture him always walking to Calculus class right in front of my room and he likes to whistle up and down the halls with his buddies. That's the kind of kid he is: fun-loving, a team guy. Just solid, very solid," continued Lombardo.

Dan Wiita stated on the family's Web page that when Kory woke up after the initial injury he was frustrated because he couldn't feel anything below his chest. It states that Kori is on a ventilator and there's no word yet on his spinal chord injury. 

As doctors work on Kory, the Highland Hornets keep practicing. 

They won that game against Cloverleaf and moved on to play Warren Howland in the Division II Regional Quarterfinal Ohio High School Football Playoffs.

Lombardo tried to maintain a sense of normalcy, though Kory weighs heavy on everyone's hearts.

It is especially tough, because his teammates are not allowed to visit Kory in the ICU. But family, friends and perfect strangers leave notes of encouragement and prayers on the family's website.

"We're just fighting and praying right with them. I have four kids of my own , in some ways, during the season, there's that familial relationship. And I know I'm not the main caretaker or anything like that but I think I can speak for our football staff, that we almost feel like it's one of our own children and that's how we're praying," said Lombardo.

The Cloverleaf football team offered to rake leaves and mow the yard at the Wiita home this weekend, but the local fire department had already taken care of those chores. 

Dan Wiita responded on the Web site by asking the Cloverleaf players to take time to toss the football with a younger sibling, play checkers with a grandparent-and just make the time to enjoy life. 

Cloverleaf schools said they will continue to offer help to the Wiita's as this will be a long road of recovery.

For more information you can visit the family blog at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/korywiita.

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