How a Westborough High football star isn't letting an injury derail a college career
WESTBOROUGH – He donned a head set and pointed out instructions. His crutches lay flat on the ground a few feet away. The game was well in hand and Sebastian Grillo was calling plays.
The jovial mood that accompanied a 43-point lead turned the Westborough senior into a coach. Not really, but the feel-good scenario was not far off from reality.
“I like to joke around that I’m a coach now instead of one of the players,” Grillo said before the Rangers defeated Fitchburg, 43-6, on Saturday afternoon. “But it’s not really a joke because I’m with my coaches during (practice) drills. I’m with the running backs and the linebackers and I’m helping them out with their technique and motivating them.”
The native Venezuelan is making the most out of a senior season that ended when he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot early in his team’s first preseason scrimmage against Worcester South. He still maintains a presence on the sideline while wearing a large boot following surgery in late September.
Grillo, a fullback/linebacker, did not take up football until his freshman year but became a starter a year later when the Rangers were struggling through annual one-win seasons. But the team is 5-1 this fall, more wins than the previous three seasons combined.
And Grillo has a front-row view of Westborough’s resurrection, proudly wearing his “34” jersey and galloping along the sideline as the Rangers eye a playoff game for the first time 2017. His teammates have kept him in mind even though he is never far from the action.
“We really miss him on the field but we’re playing hard for him,” said Westborough junior quarterback Andrew Pisciotta. “We’re trying to give him the best experience possible for his senior year.”
Grillo is already a member of a championship-winning team, helping the Rangers win the school’s first boys’ track and field state title last spring. The owner of the school record in the discus should be fully recovered for outdoor track next year. But he was among the dozens of hard-working young men who rose early most days this summer to participate in conditioning drills to help Westborough football step away from its doormat days.
“I remember two years ago,” he said, “it was a bunch of us sophomores starting on the varsity knowing it was a young team, but if we worked hard, this is what it could have been: having a good record and showing the rest of Central Mass. that this isn’t a team you can mess with.
“We’ve been working really hard and it’s been showing. But to know that everything that I’ve worked for is gone now over a scrimmage, is not easy to take in.”
Grillo ‘studies the greats’ to improve throwing technique
The injury cost him his final high school season and may have dashed his hopes of playing football in college. Grillo’s original plan called for a strong fall on the gridiron and an eventual roster spot for a Division III school. That still may occur, but his sport of choice has changed.
“Before this happened, I wanted to see how I would progress as a player,” he said. “Now, that’s not really an option.”
Track and field appears to be the Daily News All-Star's likely ticket to competing in college. He wants to study engineering (his father is an electrical engineer), meaning Worcester Poly Tech (WPI) is a possibility. Grillo, who is expected to resume training in December and participate for the second half of indoor track season, is also considering the University of Hartford.
His work ethic should help him improve on his top-four finishes in discus and shot put at last year’s Division 3 meet, the 11 points part of Westborough’s dominant win at states on Memorial Day weekend.
“He does his quote-unquote homework,” WHS boys’ track and field coach Roger Anderson said. “He goes home and studies the greats in his events. At one point last year he reached out to some professional athletes about his technique and sent them videos about what he was doing, and they gave him feedback, which I think is pretty cool that he has the capacity to do that.”
Grillo’s teammates dedicate season to him
Grillo was a captain last season, already commanding the respect of his teammates. Despite his absence on the field, he is never far from their thoughts: Westborough senior Hemanth Nekkalaudi has the number 34 written in black marker on one of his arm bands.
“It’s just unfortunate,” said senior receiver Daniel Hackett. “The kid put in so much work. This season is entirely (dedicated) to him. He’s put in more work than probably anyone on this team.”
Westborough head coach Joe Beveridge says Grillo is welcome to be as much of a part of the team as he wants, using him to mentor scout team players and running backs.
“We were really looking forward to watching him run the ball and run all over the field defensively, and unfortunately that was taken away,” Beveridge said. “You try and paint the rosy picture of ‘God gives you what you can handle; things happen for a reason’ kind of stuff, but when things like that happen to a good kid like Sebastian, it really sucks.”
If you see a kid in maroon with curly black hair waving his crutches and hobbling around the sideline, that’s Sebastian. Hearing the news that his injury was season-ending “was tough to hear.” But this could be Westborough’s best season since 2009 (7-5 record) and Grillo is set on being a part of any success the Rangers enjoy.
“This is still my team. I just have to be with them,” he said.
“If one of our guys scores a touchdown, I’ll still be jumping around on one foot celebrating. I’m celebrating with my brothers.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hurt Westborough High senior Grillo still helping football team
