The Helias football team finished the regular season undefeated. The team is ranked number two in the state and a return trip to the Dome is likely.

Andrew Crocker guarantees if Helias makes it back to the championship game, this year won't be like last year for him. Crocker's heart belongs to football

"It's one of those things. Health comes first, football's second," said Crocker.

He's not kidding. Crocker is a middle linebacker with a motor in constant motion.

"I guess they call me the Freak Show on the field. I guess I'm freakish cause when I make plays I get excited about it," said Crocker.

"Andrew's always had great speed and good instincts as a linebacker. Whatever level he's played for us, on the freshman, JV and last year on the varsity. He's always made plays," Helias football coach Chris Hentges said.

But, in the 2008 Class 4 State Championship game Crocker's motor misfired. In the biggest game of his high school career he had to leave the field.

"My heart was racing and I couldn't stand up. I almost fell down on the field. I knew something was wrong," said Crocker.

"He was complaining of shortness of breath and just a little bit of dizziness when he ran," said Hentges.

So, Crocker went to doctors to find out what was wrong.

"It's still scary. It's scary when an 18-year-old kid has to deal with this," said Hentges

"They gave me an MRI and an EKG and they found out I had an extra heart beat. It ended up being Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome," said Crocker.

It is a condition Crocker was born with, but he needed surgery to correct it.

"I looked at my parents and they looked at me and I put my head down for a second and I was like I can't believe this," said Crocker.

Crocker had the surgery in mid-August, just days before the start of the season.

"They thought they were only looking for one thing. They searched around and found another problem. There was an extra canal in my heart where the electrons are going through so they had to close that up too," said Crocker.

"I was skeptical, thinking, 'Are you sure we're going to get him back?' The doctors assured me he'd be back and full strength and from that standpoint they were right on the money," said Hentges.

He returned only six weeks into the season, less than two months after heart surgery. Crocker picked off a pass in his first game back.

"Since he's come back he's been a leader on our defense with tackles and tackles for loss, and making a big impact," said Hentges.

And now that his motor runs without fear of the hiccup, Freak Show is back showing his skills.

"Our quote has been 'Finish It' and once we go to the Dome we want to finish it and we want to get the job done," said Crocker.

Crocker's latest EKG on his heart showed no problems. He only takes a daily aspirin to help with any possible blood clotting.

Helias finished the regular season 10-0 and plays Warrenton on Wednesday in the first round of the state playoffs.