WINTHROP – Timing is everything with high school football injuries. Even the best athlete has a three-year window, realistically, to soak up the varsity experience.

So imagine arguably being the best player on your team as a sophomore, then having your school end a six-year playoff drought in your junior season while you helplessly wander the sideline wearing a letterman’s jacket instead of shoulder pads.

That was Jake Steele’s nightmare after he re-injured a balky left shoulder during his sophomore baseball season, forcing surgery that knocked him out of contact sports for six months.

The wrong six months.

“Football is one of my big passions. Playing it, especially for Winthrop, is a really big thing for me,” Steele said. “Last year was kind of a love-hate relationship. I was loving that my team was doing so well and we were playing well, but at the same time I was hating not being able to be out on the field.”

At least it was the right year, as those who know Steele best and were powerless to console him last fall are quick to point out.

“I was glad for him in that sense that he was a junior and was able to come back and play this year,” said Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton. “It hasn’t been an issue. He hasn’t been banged up at all. He put on 10 to 15 pounds in the weight room. He’s just a determined young man who’s not going to be denied.”

Steele, a Campbell Conference all-star two years ago, is perhaps the most explosive player on an incendiary Winthrop offense.

He is the Ramblers’ leading rusher, averaging more than 10 yards every time he takes a pitch or handoff from quarterback Jordan Conant. Both of Steele’s receptions out of the backfield have gone for touchdowns.

“Jake is an amazing running back. He cuts like no one I’ve ever seen run,” said Conant. “You know he’s going to do something with it. He makes something out of nothing.”

At linebacker, Steele also is the second-leading tackler on a Winthrop defense that rides a wave of four consecutive shutouts into Saturday’s first-place showdown with fellow unbeaten Dirigo.

“I like both (offense and defense) a lot,” said Steele. “We had such a good backfield last year, and we do again this year, that it’s not like we missed a beat really. Offensively we have a lot of talent, so we’re able to spread the ball around a lot and use a lot of different formations.”

Steele has been just as valuable in the open field blocking for Skyler Whaley, Joe Morey or Riley Cobb – the three backs who emerged last season in his absence – or any of Winthrop’s cadre of receivers.

And no, he isn’t afraid to lower that left shoulder and pop someone 40 or 50 pounds heavier. Even if some of his friends hold their breath for a split second when he does it.

“We’ve played together since sixth grade,” Conant said. “Seeing him on the sideline was real tough, because I knew how much he wanted to be there with us, and I knew how bad he loves this game. It makes you thankful for every game you get to play. You never want to have to sit out a game.”

In some respects, maybe it was good practice for this one-sided season.

Having allowed only four touchdowns all season and blowing out most of its opponents in the first half, Winthrop has been forced to sit its starters early and often. Steele has carried the ball only 37 times in six games.

“You can’t game plan (against us) because you never know who’s running the ball,” Stoneton said. “We rotate our guys in there and whoever gets it, gets it. Jake does whatever you ask him. He does more than just carry the ball for us. He’s very, very football savvy. He’s a very intelligent player. He’s an unselfish kid.”

Steele’s run as a spectator and an undergraduate assistant coach, of sorts, ended with a 28-21 loss to Boothbay in the 2007 Western Class C championship game.

With that scene burning in his mind, Steele no longer was satisfied merely to return. Being part of a Class C basketball championship team in his first post-surgery activity only stoked that fire. Now he wants to put his stamp on a gridiron program and community that endured extreme highs and lows in the aftermath of Winthrop’s last football state title eight years ago.

“Everybody’s looking for that Gold Ball. Ever since back in 2000 when they won it, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Steele said. “I remember going to those games and watching every Friday night or Saturday afternoon. Those were big things for me as a kid. Some of those players I was real close to, so it’s cool to be able to come out and sort of do what they had done.”