North Ridgeville’s John McGraw helped get the Yellow Jackets off to a good start, gaining 65 yards on 13 carries in Baldwin-Wallace’s 38-14 win over Wooster on Thursday.

McGraw, who missed virtually the 2008 season with injury after a solid freshman season in 2007 in which he rushed for 211 yards. After having work done on his meniscus on the first day of camp last year, he returned in Week 2 and got a few carries, but the next week in practice, he tore his ACL and needed another surgery.

"I actually had knee surgery my sophomore year in high school too," McGraw said. "I said if it happened again, I was done (with football). But the second time having been through it before, I knew what I had to do to get back. It was hard. A lot of hard work to get back and I had people supporting me through it."

McGraw bounced back after surgery to lead the Yellow Jackets with nine rushing touchdowns in 2009 and piled up 486 yards on the ground. He also caught 14 passes.

"I don’t mind it (playing in the slot back)," McGraw said. "I’m getting used to it, but it took some time because I’ve always been a running back. Last year, I was sent in motion, running sweeps and catching bubble passes.

"It was like a glorified running back but teams started to key on that. So in spring ball, I started practicing running wide receiver routes, just to confuse the defense and give them another look. I’m excited to see where I’ll be this season."

swalker@MorningJournal.com