By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

A few weeks before the football season started, Sharon Springs running back Taylor Pearce was uncertain whether he would play his senior year. Pearce thought he would have hip surgery that would put him out for four months. Pearce didn't know his status until less than two weeks remained in the offseason. Then, Pearce, who missed the first game against Tribune Greeley-County, discovered he could play.

"I am just overwhelmed and grateful that I am able to play at all," he said. "Because there for awhile, I thought that I was going to be sitting out."

Pearce's comeback has yielded 86 carries and 1,056 yards for 12.3 yards per carry and 18 rushing touchdowns.

Head coach Kevin Ayers, 117-17 with three state titles in 12 years, has never had a player average that many yards per carry.

"Had he been completely healthy, I can't imagine what that would be," Ayers said. "Very quick, Taylor's quickness in the first 5 or 10 yards is just amazing. He can hit a hole extremely quick. He is built low to the ground and that makes him difficult to tackle."

The 162-pound Pearce, though, is one of a few Sharon Springs players that have been able to play at least eight games. The Wildcats, 38-6 under Ayers, started the season state-ranked and moved to No. 3 in Eight-Man, Division II in the statewide media poll. In Week 3, they pulled off a 26-24 victory against Quinter, the Bulldogs' only defeat. Pearce called that contest Sharon Springs' best game ­-- and the lone one when everyone has been healthy. Ayers had never been hit this badly by injuries in his coaching career.

"I don't think we have had a game where we have had a game where we have less than about two or three of our starters been hurt or sick or something like that," Pearce said. "It's almost like we have been on a rotation of people having to step up every week."

Since then, Sharon Springs has lost to Macksville and Rexford-Golden Plains and finished the regular season with a 7-2 record. The Wildcats will travel to Otis-Bison, 9-0 and ranked No. 2 in Kansas, for the first round of the playoffs Tuesday. Game time is 6 p.m. Senior running back/linebacker Tate Andrews (hyperextended elbow), who has accumulated 1,304 total yards in seven contests, suffered an injury against Macksville and missed the Golden Plains and Wheatland contests. Andrews has been one of the Wildcats' top players for several years and Andrews has "pretty well healed up," Ayers said.

"Anytime you lose a guy it's big, especially at our level," Ayers said. "Our numbers are down a little bit and depth is a concern at a lot of positions. When you lose any starter, you move one guy and then you end up moving four guys just because you bring a guard up to fullback, someone else has to come in at guard. It just changes the whole dynamics of your team. Timing is off."

Senior quarterback Trevor Bieker missed time with a concussion and a knee injury and will not play Tuesday. Junior Tadd Andrews missed five games with a separated shoulder. Ayers has two players playing with a broken hand and a broken finger. Junior Jesus Esquivel missed time with a knee injury. Ayers said his team will come into the playoffs "banged up" and will have a few players not suit up.

"The list just goes on and on," Ayers said. "... It's just the nature of the sport of football and just something that you have got to deal with."

Pearce, though, is one player that suffered his injury before the year started. Pearce's injury started last football season when he pulled his groin muscle.

Then it healed during basketball season before he reinjured again during track season. He went to the doctor, who thought arthroscopic surgery may be necessary to round off his hip joint.

"I did what I could lifting and stuff like that," he said. "Basically I had my summer conditioning at the beginning of the season, so my first couple games I was kind of getting in shape so it was a struggle for awhile."

Pearce, who carried the ball 79 times for 754 yards for 13 touchdowns in 2008, carried the ball just nine times in the first three weeks. In Week 6 versus Rexford Golden Plains, he played offense, defense and special teams. The next week, he felt like he could play a full game against Wheatland-Grinnell. In that contest, he set season highs for carries (24) and touchdowns (4) and rushed for 169 yards, his second-highest total.

"I wasn't dead tired and needing a rest," he said.

In the last two weeks, Pearce has delivered several big runs, including 111 yards on three carries against Bird City-Cheylin and 196 yards on nine carries last week against Almena-Northern Valley ­-- and continued a turnaround from the summer.

"It's just been a blessing to be able to play," Pearce said.