TULARE – The path to playing for a state championship is never easy, but for Carter Binger it’s been three times harder than normal.

The Hitchcock-Tulare senior has overcome a pair of torn ACLs (one on each knee) to help lead the Patriots into the Class 9B football state title contest. Hitchcock-Tulare will face Herreid-Selby Area in a battle of unbeatens at 11 a.m. Thursday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.

The trip to the state finals has been a long-time in the making for Binger, who tore his left knee as a freshman and then his right knee as a junior.

“It was really heartbreaking,” Binger said of last season, “because I knew our team was pretty good and I knew we could have made a pretty good run for the dome.”

Instead, Binger was forced to watch the games from the sidelines. While that was a trying experience, he believes that it changed the way he looked at the game.

“It just kind of slows the game down when you’re on the sideline,” Binger said.

It also allowed for some teachable moments that have only made Binger a more complete player this season.

“Last year after he got hurt, I was able to get him on the sideline and work and talk things through with him, why we do certain things, and what our goals are,” said HT coach Tom Salmen, “and he’s taken hold of that and just gone with it.”

So much so, that Binger finds himself at the center of one of the most potent nine-man offenses in the state.

In a semifinal playoff win last week, Binger rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns, and also passed for 234 yards and a pair of TDs. On the season he has thrown for more than 1,600 yards and 24 touchdowns, and also ran for nine scores.

Just as importantly, he instinctively knows where to go with the football on a team that features multiple weapons.

“In our game plan we just kind of set up plays for guys to get open and I just try to get them the ball,” Binger said, “and hopefully they can make plays in big space, which they have.”

Salmen often gives Binger the green light when he comes to making decisions at the line of scrimmage.

“There’s some players that wouldn’t be able to do it,” Salmen said, “but he’s able to find the right one and make the good choices most of the time, so it’s been fun to watch him.”

Binger is also a force on defense, where he ranks second on the team in tackles.

He said he does not have a preference of one side of the ball over the other.

“I just love both of them. I don’t favor one over the other,” Binger said. “I do like hitting people and I do like throwing touchdowns.”

While Binger is a natural leader from his quarterback position on offense, he is also a leader when it comes to playing defense.

“He does an awesome job on defense. He’s not just a leader on offense,” Salmen said. “He plays our outside backer and has learned the technique involved to do that and does it wonderfully most of the time.”

Last year Binger did make it to the dome where he watched other teams play for a state title from the stands. That just fueled his desire to get back on the field.

“As I was going through that rehab, that really gave me a lot of motivation,” Binger said.

There’s no denying that Binger has paid his dues for the right to play in the state title game. He has shown he has physical and mental toughness to go along with his perserverance.

“I already knew that. I didn’t need him to blow out two knees to tell me that,” Salmen said. “He’s a great kid and he’s good leader. He has just that mentality to lead a team and get things done, and it’s been great.”

Binger said part of his toughness comes from his dad who always pushes him to play hard.

As a result of that hard work, Binger will now get chance to fulfill a lifelong dream.

“That has been my dream ever since I started playing football was to make it to the dome,” Binger said, “so I knew I had to come back for at least one more season.”

And what a run it has been so far. The Patriots have yet to give up a single point in three playoff games and have won every single contest so far by double-digit margins.

Binger is one of seven seniors on the squad who have been playing together since fourth grade, and this year just proves what he believed all along, that the squad had what it would take to play for a state title.

“We’ve really had so much chemistry,” Binger said of playing with his teammates through the years. “I’m just glad that we made this run to the dome, and hopefully we can finish it off with a state championship.”