The prospects of the Avery varsity football team capturing the 2010 Western Highlands Conference championship were dealt a crippling blow Tuesday afternoon when Avery junior quarterback Alex Villanueva was injured during practice, suffering a broken right collarbone.Villanueva was participating in a 7-on-7 drill when the injury occurred after falling to the turf at MacDonald Stadium midway through practice. According to his family, Villanueva undergoes surgery for the broken bone on Thursday afternoon and is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks of action.
Senior Dustin Childress and sophomore Lane Smith have been taking snaps in practice, with
Childress likely to start under center for the Big Red Friday night when the team travels to Swannanoa to open Western Highlands Conference play against the Owen Warhorses.Through four games this season, Villanueva was 56 of 102 passing for 949 yards with 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions, to go with 143 rushing yards on 27 carries.
