Injuries are part of game, but . . .
Sachem North's Trent Crossan runs down the sideline. He was lost for the season with a torn ACL. (Sept. 10, 2011) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
This was not a revelation. This was a cold, hard fact.
There was Mike Crossan, the father of two of Long Island's more dynamic football players, standing on the Sachem North sideline, moments after his sophomore son Trent was injured in a game earlier this season. Crossan, taking a deep breath, made a sad but spot-on statement. He said, "players get hurt in high school sports. It happens all the time." And then he exhaled.
The extent of the injury was not known but a father's instinct told him it was bad. Trent Crossan was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The loss reverberated throughout the Sachem North football program and funneled into the community. The devastating injury would have an effect on the Flaming Arrows' big game against Floyd. Sachem North lost for the first time all season. It will take Sachem some time to get comfortable with a new quarterback.
Injuries are inevitable, especially in football. And the more developed the athlete, the bigger, stronger and faster ones, the more severe the injury. No one is immune. It can come to a star player or a reserve -- there is no telling when a freak injury will happen.
Even Hercules was injured this season. That's right, Chris Hercules, the standout defender from Lawrence who started the season with 36 tackles in two games and was on his way to an All-Long Island type of season. He broke his leg. The Lawrence defense, which relied on Hercules to make big plays, has taken weeks to find a leader and some cohesion.
West Babylon was 5-0 and looking for its first appearance in the Long Island championships. The Eagles have one of the top offensive units on Long Island and a swarming defense. But a series of twisted and unfortunate events have turned a season of hope into a nightmare.
The Eagles lost junior quarterback Clifton Melhado to a severe leg injury. The electric Melhado, who relied on his legs, and shiftiness, took a vicious hit on his knee and his coach said he suffered nerve damage. It is not known if his season is over or if he can make it back for a championship run.
"It's in God's hands," said West Babylon coach Al Ritacco. "There is nerve damage and we have to take it one week at a time. If he's not 100 percent, I won't play him and risk further injury."
Ritacco turned to Michael Richardson, a Hansen Award candidate as one of Suffolk's top players, to play quarterback in Melhado's absence. Richardson was brilliant last week in a 41-6 win over previously unbeaten Riverhead. And West Babylon didn't seem to miss a beat.
And then a three-car accident on a wet Wednesday morning sent Richardson to the hospital with a severe head wound. Ritacco said he required more than 40 facial stitches and had plastic surgery. He missed Sunday's game and West Babylon lost for the first time this season, 34-18, to Smithtown West. Ritacco was a gentleman in defeat and wouldn't take anything away from a Smithtown West team that refused to quit after an 0-5 start. It is now 2-5.
"It's a very cruel twist of fate," said Ritacco, who loves his players beyond the X's and O's and feels their pain. "Did you ever have something right in front of you and you could taste it? These are great kids. They have something special together and it's being taken away. Call it bad luck, whatever, it's awful."
How much did Richardson mean to West Babylon's championship dreams? Consider this: He is the team captain, leader in the secondary, wide receiver/quarterback, the punter, kick returner, holder on extra points and the feel-good guy in the locker room that sets the tone for everyone. He could play anywhere and do it well.
Ritacco will retire after 30 years of teaching biology at the end of the school year but said he would love to continue coaching because "football is a big part of my life.'' The turn of events in the last two weeks have tested the mettle of he and his coaches. As the injuries have mounted, the roster size has dwindled from 41 to 29.
The injury bug doesn't discriminate. Playing tough defense and scoring points wins championships. Look around your locker room and imagine an empty locker -- could you win if "he" wasn't there?
