RINGGOLD, Ga. — Ringgold High School quarterback Zac Fairchild’s senior season ended before it began. He suffered a knee injury during an intrasquad scrimmage.

The 6-foot-5 Fairchild, one of the Times Free Press “Dynamite Dozen” college prospects, tore his anterior cruciate ligament and partially tore his medial collateral ligament in his left leg while scrambling out of the pocket. An MRI performed Monday revealed the extent of the injury. Chattanooga surgeon Chad Smith will operate on him next week.

“I was just running the ball, and I went to cut back and it rolled on me,” Fairchild said. “It was really fluky. The doctors told me 20 different things had to go just right for it to happen. I guess all things happen for a reason. I’ll just make the best of it and get ready for baseball season.”

Fairchild also plays basketball and is a top baseball prospect as a pitcher, and he said Dr. Smith told him the knee should be near 100 percent as early as January. He was being recruited by several colleges for football, including Kentucky and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Ringgold coach Robert Akins said he plans to call the schools recruiting Fairchild to let them know the quarterback will be healthy.

“I still believe he’ll get an offer,” Akins said. “They’ve seen enough film of his junior year, and they know what kind of arm he has. It also helps that Dr. Smith is the UTC team doctor, so they can keep up with his rehab.”

Fairchild says he will keep his options open.

“I’m going to have to see what the different colleges do,” Fairchild said. “I have an offer from UTC, and hopefully that will follow through if I choose to go in that direction. I could also still go baseball. The toughest thing right now is that I’ve been playing three sports since I can remember. But I’ve got seven months to get ready for baseball.”

Ringgold will turn to junior Barrett Johnson to replace Fairchild in the team’s new spread ofense, Akins said.

“Barrett is a quality quarterback and we’re excited about having him to step in,” Akins said. “We’ll change the offense a bit because he can do some things that Zac couldn’t. Then again, Zac did things Barrett couldn’t. It might give us some advantage because teams won’t be sure what we’ll do.”

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