Pain is a sensation that has rarely sidelined all-state senior running back Brady Tweeton.

Tweeton is a four-time state tournament wrestler, baseball player, and two-way starter on the gridiron for Barnesville, a small town of under 3,000 people tucked 30 miles southeast of Fargo. He played with a broken finger his sophomore year and a nagging ankle injury last season when he rushed for over 1,900 yards and compiled 28 touchdowns and 11.4 yards per carry.

Last fall, his persistence helped the Trojans clinch their first state tournament berth since 2010 before falling 55-20 to eventual Class 2A champion Caledonia at U.S. Bank Stadium in the semifinals.

Tweeton was poised to break Barnsville's career rushing record this fall until the week before opening day of practice, when he suffered a broken ankle playing pickup basketball with friends that'll sideline him until Week 4 of the regular season. After jumping for a rebound, Tweeton came down and twisted his ankle, leading to a break that will take six to eight weeks to heal.

“His mom told me to step outside—so I didn't think it was going to be a great conversation—and he was in the car and crying, just devastated that it happened and he let the team down,” Barnesville coach Bryan Strand said.

Tweeton has pushed aside the initial grief of the injury that’ll force him to miss the first half of the regular season. His form of coping has been addressing the running joke among friends.

“A lot of people think I got crossed up, but no, I didn't get crossed up,” he said with a laugh. “[I] just landed on it wrong coming down from grabbing a rebound. Twisted it and it broke.”

Besides, Tweeton’s no stranger to recovery. He’s dealt with injury before and chooses to keep his spirits high.

Diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at age 13, Tweeton couldn’t move his left wrist, elbow and ankle the day it flared up. Physicians were unsure if he’d compete again. But after years of following doctors’ orders: stretches, Humira shots, medication and remaining active, Tweeton is practically arthritis-free.

“Sometimes I don't even know I have it,” he said. “I forget about it and zone out when I'm playing,” he said. “I'm totally off medications, which is awesome. Last time I was there [at the doctor], they said I was juvenile arthritis-free.”

For now, Tweeton is in a walking boot and rehabilitating his ankle with elastic band exercises, taking calcium pills and using a bone stimulator to hasten his recovery. Despite Barnesville’s training staff telling him to relax at practice, the three-sport athlete who owns a 3.9 GPA finds himself becoming restless on the sidelines.

“Trainers want me to sit the whole practice, but I can't do that,” Tweeton said, adding that he gets mad when he’s unable to practice.  “I usually help with scout offenses, watch drills and try to help as much as I can to motivate kids.”

Keeping Tweeton off the field has never been an easy task.

Strand recalled the Trojans’ 22-21 victory over rival and perennial Class 3A power Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton last fall when Tweeton came off the field after suffering what was later deemed a high ankle sprain.

Strand told Tweeton to walk around on it, and before he could check back with Tweeton, he had already run back onto the field after missing one play and took a carry 28 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

His touchdown was one of several plays that helped Barnesville complete a 16-point comeback in the final frame but was just a glimpse of Tweeton’s tenacity.

“That night he went into a walking boot, didn't practice at all that week and wore [the brace] until noon on Friday,” Strand said.

Tweeton played the following week and rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-18 win against Hawley just hours after shedding the walking boot.

Martz was the Trojans’ other homecoming hero a year ago, scoring the deciding touchdown and two-point conversion against the Rebels and is accustomed to varsity competition as he enters his third year starting.

Tweeton’s absence is sure to hamper Barnesville’s offensive output through the first four weeks of the season, but Martz said new players are beginning to develop into new roles.

The Trojans will be put to the test on Friday when Barnesville puts its 51-game winning streak at home on the line against Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.

“It’s a big thing that Strand’s been preaching to us. We haven’t lost a home game since 2007, so that’s extra motivation,” Martz said. “We don’t want to lose to them and we want to keep working hard and keep the streak alive.”

Sophomore Jack Wahl has developed into the starting fullback in place of Martz, while second-year starting quarterback Caleb Stetz will execute and distribute the ball. Seniors Jack Trowbridge and Jonny Kletsch anchor the offensive line that welcomes junior Jackson Poepping and sophomores Matt Samuelson and Connor Morse.

Tweeton expects he’ll be ready to play on homecoming against Roseau on Sept. 29, and will have four games to polish his play for the postseason.

A weekend trip to Park Rapids’ Character Challenge Course, where the Trojans completed high ropes obstacle courses, has helped the team jell approaching Week 1.

“We all spoke together and it's all about trust,” Tweeton added. “You have to trust that everyone's going to do their jobs and as long as you trust them, they'll trust you and everything will turn out good.”

“We all know [Tweeton’s] a big part of our team, but we’re all excited to see what we can do and be better when he comes back,” Martz said.