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Platte Valley Football Team Playing Title Game For Injured Teammate

KERSEY, Colo. (CBS4) - Platte Valley High School in Kersey will be playing for the state football title on Saturday, but they'll be without one of their own who suffered a traumatic head injury earlier in the season.

It was during a game last month that Platte Valley was playing their rival, Eaton, that junior Trey Johnson was hit. They don't know which hit it was, but he and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Since then he's been recovering in a hospital, making amazing strides in recovery.

Johnson's teammates say they'll be playing the championship game for him.

"Trey was playing the game of his life, it was the best game he has ever had," Johnson's father Mike Johnson said.

But in the blink of an eye Johnson's father says their family changed forever.

"You never know how fast things change," he said. "It just takes one second and suddenly the whole world is changed."

Joghnson was left  in the intensive care unit, unresponsive for 12 days.

"I just sat there and watched him breathe for about 12 hours."

Now, six weeks later, Johnson is making progress in his recovery.

"His rehab is really going fast," Mike Johnson said. "Last night I took him to go walk up and down the stairs, so his gross motor nerves are coming back."

By his sides most every day are his teammates.

"The night it happened, I've been in weekly," teammate Daniel Frantz said.

"We have one more practice before the game. He needs your good luck, because we're playing for you," a teammate told Johnson.

The players say they have more motivation now than ever to win.

"We have a lot to play for now that Trey went down, so we're going to try and win it for him and bring him a trophy," Frantz said.

"These boys are like my sons, every one of them," Johnson's father said.

Platte Valley will be playing the state game against Denver Kent High School. It's expected there will be a huge show of support for Johnson.

Johnson's family hopes that with intense physical therapy he'll someday be able to return to sports, but his doctors say he will never play football again.

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