Image courtesy of Rutgers Athletics.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (WENY) - As a sophomore in college, Canton's Timmy Ward has faced more adversity than some will face in a lifetime. Ward is a Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor, and when he returned to football for Canton High School in 2020, he tore his ACL, ending his high school playing career. Fast forward to January of 2022, Timmy earned a spot on the Rutgers football team, and there was a special moment in the Scarlet Knights' game on Saturday against 5th-ranked Michigan.

With 5:12 remaining in the first quarter, the Wolverines lined up to punt on their own 35-yard line. Rutgers' Ma Melton flew threw the offensive line untouched and blocked the punt, then Ward was there for the scoop and score to tie the game at 7.

"When I saw the ball on the ground, it was just kind of like don't screw it up," Ward told WENY. "I just needed to trust my training. Everybody did what they had to do. Max did his job, got the ball on the ground, so I just knew I needed to do what I'd been trained all season to do. Just pick it up and get it to the endzone."

"The coolest thing was just how everything came together. How coach explained it in the meetings, this is how we're going to execute it and this is how it's going to go and that's exactly what happened" he added.

Before Timmy earned a spot on the Rutgers roster, he was a team manager while he was rehabbing his knee before finally getting to try out last September. After Saturday's game, Rutgers Head Coach, Greg Schiano discussed how special the moment was and Timmy's impact on the team.

"Really heartwarming because you're right, he has been through a lot, to even be playing college football no less at a Big Ten program," said Schiano. "Timmy has become a guy on our special teams that he's very calm and he makes some of our checks for us which sounds like a little thing but on special teams, you don't spend as much time as you do on offense and defense on special teams so you need a guy or two that can really just kind of keep things calm and make the decisions out there, and he's growing into that which is important for us."

Additional stories on Timmy Ward and his journey can be found below.