DOVER-FOXCROFT – A knee injury has sidelined one of Eastern Maine’s top all-around schoolboy athletes, ending his football season and endangering his senior year of high school basketball.

Brandon Hall, a 6-foot-8 wide receiver and defensive end for the Foxcroft Academy football team, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while running a reverse in the Ponies’ season-opening victory against Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield on Sept. 6.

An MRI of the injury was done the following week, and he learned of the ACL tear just before Foxcroft’s game against Orono last Friday night. Hall said after the game, a 55-13 Foxcroft victory, that he anticipates undergoing reconstructive knee surgery as soon as possible followed by four months of rehabilitation, leaving him hopeful of joining the school’s basketball team late in the regular season.

“It obviously has a tremendous impact all the way around,” said Foxcroft football coach Paul Withee. “Brandon’s 6-8 and has 11.3 speed in the 100. As athletic as he is, anytime you take away that weapon from your offense it’s tough.

“He also was a pretty good defensive end and difficult to throw the ball over, and we were going to use him in our defense as a second safety to take away anybody trying to throw the ball deep.”

Hall’s injury is in the same knee on which he suffered torn meniscus cartilage as an eighth-grader, forcing him out of athletics that year.

In addition to playing a leading role on the Foxcroft football team, Hall is the Ponies’ starting center in basketball, and he swept the jumping events at last spring’s state Class C track and field championships. He won the high jump with a best effort of 20 feet, 11/4 inches, captured the triple jump by nearly two feet with a personal-best effort of 42-11/2, and won the high jump with a best of 6 feet, though he narrowly missed on an attempt at 6-8, which would have been a state record.

For now, the Foxcroft football team must deal with the loss of Hall from the lineup as it prepares for Friday night’s LTC game against Bucksport at Oakes Field in Dover-Foxcroft.

“The guy can jump and go get balls, he’s the fastest kid on the team, and he works so hard both on and off the field,” said Foxcroft quarterback Josh Withee. “It’s going to be hard to get used to not seeing No. 88 on the field.”

Three Brewer wrestlers honored

Three members of the Brewer Wrestling Club recently were honored with a proclamation by the Brewer City Council for their participation in the State Games of America national championship meet at Hartford, Conn.

Alex Smith and Chris Noyes were honored for earning silver medals at the meet. Teammate Justin Bowen was recognized for qualifying for the nationals in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions for the second straight year. Bowen was one of only 18 wrestlers to qualify for the nationals in the heavyweight division.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net