LIVERPOOL — A scream echoed through the house and Greg Vacco rushed into his son’s room. Jacob Vacco lay motionless on the morning of Oct. 29, 2018, unable to stand up. His left leg was locked, and the pain reached his breaking point.

Two weeks earlier, on a walk from the trainer’s office to the Liverpool High School football field for practice, a sharp pain zinged through Vacco’s back. It was mid-season and by that point, nearly all his teammates had pains that nagged without long-term implications. But as his teammates’ aches and sores relaxed, Vacco’s intensified.

He had separated his right shoulder in the final regular season game on Oct. 12, but continued to prep with the starters for Liverpool’s sectional semifinal against West Genesee. Vacco spent the week limping around school, and the pain progressively worsened and spread to his lower back.

“I was just in so much pain I didn’t think of it,” Vacco said.

That 17-14 loss to the Wildcats on Oct. 26 left a “sour taste,” and Vacco already longed for next season. He’d have the opportunity to once again be the starting inside linebacker on a Liverpool defense that only gave up 15.9 points per game while retaining his featured role as a fullback — a dying position in football.

But on that late October morning, football was a distant thought. Greg rushed Vacco to Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, where he’d spend the next two weeks in a hospital bed.

“That morning, he couldn’t do anything,” Greg said softly. “Couldn’t move, couldn’t get up.”

Vacco had to face the fact that wrestling and lacrosse, the two upcoming sports on Vacco’s yearly timeline, might not be part of his life during his junior year. His football career was jeopardized, too.

Near the emergency room entrance, Vacco was eased into a wheelchair. He rolled up to one of the top floors, where a doctor diagnosed him with a staph infection — a sometimes-fatal bacterial disease. His fever continued to rise. His legs were still numb.

Corey Henry | Photo Editor

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The rain pattered onto the field as Liverpool’s Labor Day practice reached its halfway point, and head coach Dave Mancuso grew frustrated. Second-team players mumbled off to the side as substitutes lined up against the scout defense impersonating Fayetteville-Manlius’ schemes, Liverpool’s opponent in four days.

Vacco stood at the 25-yard line behind other Warriors. Even though he’s a starter, he wasn’t needed at the moment because the single-back set replaced the I-formation. His orange No. 44 jersey had rolled up over his Schutt pads and blue spandex showed underneath practice shorts. Like Mancuso, Vacco tore into his unfocused teammates. “Guys, stop talking,” he yelled.

Mancuso, on the formation’s other side, glanced up from his play sheet. “Stop talking. Just like Vacco said.”

As a senior, Mancuso has entrusted his two-way player to guide a Liverpool roster filled with returning strengths and gaping holes — the same as he did before the injury. Vacco had continually developed in football after first playing flag football in kindergarten with the Clay Panthers, the local Syracuse Pop Warner team.

Every day through high school, Vacco sits in front of his Chromebook and pours through film for at least an hour. Vacco perfected his tackling form at a young age, which is when Greg “knew he was good at defense.” Defensive instincts expedited him past the junior varsity team and into a roster spot on a perennially contending Section III team as a freshman.

Corey Henry | Photo Editor

Vacco came into high school as a 160-pound linebacker and rarely played offense. But over time, he continued to accumulate more muscle. Speed and stamina from lacrosse became transferable for football, and he carved out a role in Liverpool’s run-game despite the presence of Cade Clouthier, now at Division III St. John Fisher.

When handoffs were stuffed in Clouthier’s chest, Vacco served as the lead blocker. On other plays, Vacco would get a carry, charging up the middle or jutting out for a pass. A two-pronged rushing attack quickly materialized, and, even after Clouthier’s graduation, it remains Mancuso’s go-to approach.

“Years ago, we all had to prepare for the spread,” Mancuso said. “Now, people are like, ‘Dang, we got to prepare for the I [formation].’”

For a large part of last offseason, though, Mancuso’s invaluable I-formation piece was uncertain to return. After his release from the hospital, Vacco relied on crutches until December. He spent months in physical therapy restoring his leg strength, inching his way back toward the 225-pound player that he had turned into. Through his rehab, an unlikely return shifted toward probable.

“You have to have a lot of stamina, but for me it’s not that bad anymore,” Vacco said about rebuilding strength. “I’ve been doing it for three years.”

Maybe Vacco shouldn’t have played against West Genesee as injuries piled up last October, both Greg and Mancuso admitted when looking back, although they’re still not sure where his case originated from. Maybe that would’ve allowed Vacco to avoid the staph infection entirely.

The senior longs for a Division I scholarship, but understands it may end up being D-II or D-III. That doesn’t change his approach to the season, though. Vacco’s become a captain that both the offense and defense can turn to. After a radio show at Home Team Pub a few weeks ago, he took first-year starting quarterback Brendan Mancuso to fill his car with gas, and advised him on how to lead.

Corey Henry | Photo Editor

As the Carrier Dome’s lower-level filled in last Friday for Liverpool’s season-opener, Vacco directed 10 lines of players for stretching and jogged out to begin the high-knees and butt-kicks. In the gaps of time between his arrival and the rest of Liverpool at the opposite sideline, Vacco swung his arms and jumped. He could sense the freshness of a new campaign, one full of opportunities that included a trip to the state finals. But he was also relieved.

That moment wasn’t guaranteed 10 months ago — it was even a long-shot. Vacco was forced to miss the entire wrestling season after his hospital release, and didn’t regain his full strength until midway through lacrosse season. Throughout his recovery, Vacco had a return for senior year football floating in the back of his mind. “Let’s work harder than West Genesee,” he would shout in the weight room. “Let’s work harder than CNS.”

“If you had 20 (Vaccos), you’d win a state championship every year,” Mancuso said.

When he lined up for this season’s first play, Vacco pushed his right hand into the turf and eyed up his blocking assignment. Eventually, he’d get his chance to run, but not yet. Vacco unlocked his stance and thrust his hands out. His legs dug into the ground, and moved freely.

Published on September 9, 2019 at 10:09 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew