BOULDER — Jefferson High School isn’t just the home of the Panthers — it's also the home of Montana State football’s newest member.
Next year, Jefferson senior and quarterback/defensive back Luke Oxarart will join the Bobcats as a safety. But that statement seemed a lot less likely just a handful of months ago.
“So, I had nerve damage in both my shoulders,” said Oxarart. “It was a fluke accident. And it took 8-12 months to heal.”
In back-to-back games last season, Oxarart took a helmet to the shoulder while making tackles. The resulting nerve damage didn’t just sideline Oxarart for the rest of that season, it made even just raising his arms a challenge.
“It was definitely hard because I’d never been out of a sport for that long,” said Oxarart. “But it made me really pull from deep within me and say that, ‘Man, I got to fight for this because I can still go play even after high school ball.’”
Jefferson head coach Clint Layng said Oxarart’s commitment to MSU demonstrates his hard work and toughness.
“He’s a tremendous athlete, and he’s a tough kid, and he loves to play football,” said Layng. “Ever since he was a freshman he’s been an impact player for us.”
And Layng said it was that freshman year when he knew Oxarart had Division I potential.
“He had a couple hits in the game as a freshman, and coach Ben come over to me after the game, and he’s like holy cow number 10 is going to be a dude,” said Layng. “I haven’t seen a freshman kid hit guys like that. He couldn’t even recall when he’d seen a freshman hit kids like that.”
