Recovering from a serious knee injury, Eagle's Ethan Mikita sees second chance with PWO offer from Boise State

EAGLE - Ethan Mikita took a long deep breath before picking up the pen.

There, right in front of him, was his national letter of intent. 

This is a big moment for thousands of kids across the country each year on national signing day. But for the Eagle High School senior running back, it probably resonated more than most. A little more than five months after blowing out his knee in the first game of the season, the 5-foot-11, 195 pounder signed his preferred walk-on offer with Boise State University on Wednesday.

“I had doubts that I would get recruited. But I never doubted my own ability. I knew I was going to come back," Mikita said. "I’m glad Boise State took a chance on me. I’m going to make it worth it."

Mikita saw varsity time as a ninth grader before cracking the starting lineup the following season as a slot receiver. But it was his junior year alongside Boise State redshirt freshman Ben Ford that really put him on the map. While rotating between slot receiver and tailback, Mikita earned 5A Southern Conference first-team flex honors with 608 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns.

Going into his senior season, he was a three-star prospect and the No. 4 ranked recruit in Idaho with offers from the University of Idaho and the College of Idaho. Mikita was all set to be the Mustangs’ primary running back for the 2021 campaign.

He lived up to all of the hype by breaking off a 61-yard touchdown run on Eagle’s first play of scrimmage in the season opener against Bishop Kelly on Aug. 27.

"Everything had kind of led up to his senior year," Eagle football coach John Hartz said. "Like you knew he was going to be the guy and it was his year."

Mikita nearly scored again on his second touch. He had just one man to beat. So Mikita juked the defender. But it was him who fell to the ground instead. He tried to shrug it off by walking to the sideline and even went back in for the next series. However, after catching a pass and trying to cut up field, his right knee immediately buckled again. Mikita had to limp off the field this time.

The next day his fear was confirmed - a torn ligament (ACL). His season and potentially playing career were over.

"I’m gonna be honest, it’s a big question mark coming back from an injury like that, especially so late in your high school career," Mikita said. "Some people don’t ever come back the same."

However, Mikita wasn’t going to be one of them and he had his own family as an example to look up to. Three of his uncles had gone on to play Division I football and baseball after tearing their ACLs in high school.

Mikita had surgery 11 days later. 

Luckily, he only tore his ACL and not the MCL or meniscus, which are usually common with his type of injury. So doctors didn’t have to use a cadaver to rebuild the ligament. They cut a strip off of his patella and attached it to the damaged tissue instead.

He then jumped right into rehab at Rock and Armor in Meridian. But in between physical therapy and going to the gym every day, Mikita was still a captain for his teammates, who struggled for a bit without his presence on the field. 

The Mustangs were on the verge of a three-game slide for the first time since 2005, trailing Meridian 23-3 going into the fourth quarter on Sept. 24. But they rattled off 21 unanswered points for a remarkable come-from-behind victory, which started a seven-game winning streak and their first state semifinal appearance in five years. Hartz credits Mikita, who never missed a single game or practice, for a lot of that run.

"He set the culture," Hartz said. "From Jan. 1 of last year on, he was very adamant about this is the way we’re going to do things and it trickled down to the rest of the team."

Others took notice too.

The College of Idaho and Idaho didn’t pull their scholarships. Boise State remained in contact with him the whole time and extended him a preferred walk-on offer on Nov. 29 - the same day Mikita was cleared to start running again. Washington even came in at the 11th hour with a preferred walk-on offer Jan. 31.

But Mikita announced his commitment Tuesday to Boise State - the team he and his family had been fans of since moving from California about 13 years ago. Mikita made it official when he finally collected himself enough to put pen to paper.

"It was a proud day out there at signing day watching Ethan," Hartz said. "He lost so much of his senior year. So at least today was his day. I was really happy to see him finally get that."

Mikita, who is already cutting and running routes, is far from the only one staying in-house, though. 

Idaho State signed 10 recruits from the Gem State, including Mikita’s own teammates, defensive back Gage Jones and quarterback Jack Benson. Other standouts in that class include Weiser’s Brett Spencer (QB/DB), Rigby’s Taylor Freeman (WR) and Highland’s Ian Hersey (K).

The University of Idaho had Nampa’s Trais Higgins (WR) and Rocky Mountain’s Jackson Mason (TE) as a part of their class, while Boise State, along with Mikita, added five other local walk ons in Bishop Kelly’s Seth Knothe (RB), Timberline’s Taylor Marcum (RB), Rocky Mountain’s Mason Jacobsen (LB), Rocky Mountain’s Hunter Steacker (WR) and Mountain View’s Austin Schultsmeier (OL).

"(Andy) Avalos has definitely changed the culture," Mikita said. "We’re all excited to play for the hometown team. That definitely makes a big difference."

Especially for Mikita, who will now have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of guys like Leighton Vander Esch as the program’s next great walk-on. A chance he wasn’t sure he would have just a few short months ago.

"It really humbled me," Mikita said. "It helped me really realize that stuff can end so quickly and you have to make the most out of it. So this story is just getting started."

(Featured file photo by Loren Orr)