Practice never felt so good for Honoka'a High senior V.J. Wusstig.

Two Mondays ago, Wusstig participated in football workouts for the first time this season. It came some three weeks after the wide receiver had surgery for testicular cancer.

"It was awesome," Wusstig said in a telephone interview after his first practice. "The coaches and players were happy. Their prayers came through."

On Friday, he played in his first game of the season. The Dragons lost, 28-7, to Konawaena, but Wusstig had two carries on reverse plays, rushing for 9 and 7 yards.

"I broke choke tackles," he said Sunday of his first game. "It felt good."

His return sparked the spirits of the Dragons' football team.

"It's just been a tremendous lift for us," Honoka'a first-year coach Ron Marciel said. "We've been praying for him. We're excited to have him back."

He also is a valuable asset on the field. Marciel said Wusstig is a threat to score whenever he touches the ball.

"He's the fastest player on team," Marciel said.

But life was considerably different for Wusstig a month ago. After experiencing discomfort, he went to his doctor. That was followed by exams from two different urologists before the cancer was diagnosed.

Being his senior year, Wusstig was hoping for big things. In track, he is the Big Island Interscholastic Federation defending 100-meter champion. In football, he was looking forward to his final high school season under Marciel, the state's winningest active coach at 111-49-8.

"It was heart-breaking," Wusstig recalled. "It was very, very hurtful. I couldn't do anything about it."

The news was harder on his mother, Juanita, a clerk-typist at Honoka'a High. She had a malignant tumor removed from her right cheek in 1993. She had undergone radiation treatment, a grueling seven-week process. She said she had difficulty accepting that the youngest of her six children was going through what she did.

"I knew the struggle I had to go through and I didn't want my son to experience what I went through," she said. "I was so weak, it was hard for me to walk from the car to the building (for the radiation treatments). I'd be in tears, telling the techs I don't want (the radiation treatment) any more. But they said it gets worse before it gets better, that I had to get strong to get over it."

The 5-foot-9 Wusstig weighs about 150 pounds, some 10 to 20 pounds under his normal playing weight. He has been conditioning on his own pace since the surgery and was cleared by his doctor to practice.

Wusstig had the surgery Aug. 25, the week school started. He said the cancer was contained to the removed testicle.

"It was not as intense as it could've been," he said.

All the while, Wusstig had support not only of his family, but the Honoka'a community. He said friends and teachers wished him well. Even coaches from other schools called him.

"It was pretty cool," Wusstig said. "A lot of people knew about it, asking 'You OK?' My teachers were really supportive as well."

Wusstig said he still must get blood tests monthly, his first due soon.

According to the Association for International Cancer Research, testicular cancer represents about 1 percent to 2 percent of all cancers that affect males. But according to MayoClinic.com, it is the most common cancer for males between ages 15 and 40. If detected early, it is highly treatable, according to the Mayo Web site.

Wusstig, whose initials are of his father (Victor) and mother (Juanita), said the cancer has given him better perspective. He wants to attend college, preferably on an athletic scholarship.

"I want to go to college to get a better life," he said. "Because of what has happened, I don't want to waste any time at all. I'm not sure of my major, but I know I want to go to college. I'll figure (out a major) when I get there."

Mostly, the cancer has changed his outlook on life.

"It made me more grateful every day," he said. "It could've been bad. Just waking up is a big deal now. I wake up and thank God and go on with the day."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.