GREG DiCOCCO needed some reassurance, lying there in a hospital bed after being taken off the field by an ambulance during just his third varsity football game. The Radnor center suffered a broken femur in his left leg against Upper Darby earlier in the night, and had just been admitted to a local hospital when a nurse came up to DiCocco's mother and said, "So it looks like you'll never let him play football again."

Elaine DiCocco replied, "He's going to play again, there's no doubt about it."

That was it. It was all the motivation Greg needed.

After undergoing surgery that required four metal pins to stabilize his left leg and 2 months of grueling physical therapy, the 5-11, 240-pound junior has made a full recovery from what could have been a career-threatening injury during his sophomore season.

Friday night, when Radnor plays local rival Archbishop Carroll, DiCocco will step on a football field for a varsity game for the first time since Sept. 15, 2008, when an Upper Darby player's helmet smashed into his left thigh.

It's a long way from the wheelchair he was in for 3 weeks, and two casts that covered his hip to his toes.

"Going through that, it makes you appreciate playing football and doing something you love that much more," said DiCocco, 16, who had to sleep on a couch and take assisted showers for 3 months while he was in the casts. "You think about a lot of things when you get hurt like that. But the way I look at it, I was fortunate. I always felt that I would return. But hearing my mother say, 'He's going to play again,' was really motivating."

It also helped that Radnor head coach Tom Ryan and offensive line coach Mike Bonner gave DiCocco his starting job back.

"They didn't give up on me," DiCocco said. "They gave me a second chance to play."

To honor Bonner's commitment to him, DiCocco changed his number from No. 77, which he wore last year, to No. 50, the number Bonner wore when he played at Ridley.

"That's typical of Greg," Ryan said. "He's absolutely a character kid, and he's from a great family. His father [Greg Sr.] is an old-school guy who appreciates hard work. That's where Greg gets it from. He would get up 3 days a week and lift before school, and then lift after school with the team. You look at him now, he's fully healed and you wouldn't even know the break happened."

DiCocco still has reminders. The right and left sides of his leg and upper thigh bear faded scars from the surgeries to place and remove the pins. And he has one benefit from the injury, "I know when it's going to rain, because I can feel it in my leg," DiCocco said, laughing.

Getting adjusted

 

Dennis Decker, Ridley's new coach, is finishing his first month on the job and nearing his first varsity game, when the Green Raiders travel to Coatesville Friday night.

Decker, a former All-State quarterback at Ridley in the early 1990s, is getting used to his new gig.

"It's been exciting, and there have been some adjustments, familywise," Decker said. "I've been fortunate to have great people around me, like coach

[Ralph] Batty, coach [Chris] Bell, and I spoke to [former Ridley] coach John Waller over the summer as to what to expect. They've been a great help.

"But I am still learning on the job, since it's the first time I'm in this position as a head coach. I've just been lucky to have great people around me and the great cooperation from my wife, Jennifer, who's with my son, Cameron, and daughter, Madison. That's made it a lot easier."

Making it even easier is the emergence of 6-foot, 175-pound senior quarterback Colin Masterson, who Decker has been very impressed with, as well as senior offensive lineman Nick Hober (6-foot, 260) and center/defensive tackle Rob Crispin (5-11, 240), who's back after taking a year off from football.