No quit in Rolling Meadows' Buscarini

No one would have questioned Colin Buscarini if he didn't play in Rolling Meadows' final regular-season football game of the season.

Not after he had already made one comeback from a torn his meniscus in his knee at midseason. Not after an ugly hit from behind on the knee in the seventh game forced him to have surgery.

And not with a chance to play at the next level in his future.

But Buscarini, the Mustangs' standout inside linebacker and offensive lineman, would have always questioned himself if he didn't at least try to play last Friday night.

For the coaches who have done so much for him. For the friends he's played with for years.

For his team trying to make the playoffs for an eighth straight year. For guys like former standout linebacker Joe Okon, who pulled Buscarini aside after a second-round playoff loss to Lake Zurich in 2007 and told him he had the potential to be a great player if he worked hard.

“That was one of those things I've taken to heart,” Buscarini said of the advice from the current starting linebacker at Southern Illinois.

The heartwarming ending would have Buscarini leaving the field triumphantly after an upset of Elk Grove and gearing up for another big game this weekend. The flowing tears and hug with head coach Doug Millsaps on the sideline would be accentuated with screaming home fans celebrating.

But life doesn't always follow a Hollywood script. Instead, as it did for so many other players last weekend, a big chapter of Buscarini's young life came to an end with a 35-21 defeat.

“I tried,” Buscarini said Saturday night, a couple of hours before the state's playoff pairings were announced. “If there was a way I was going to go, I was going to go out swinging.”

Something other coaches in the Mid-Suburban East didn't miss in the way Buscarini played the last few weeks.

Not attempted to play. Played.

As Elk Grove coach Brian Doll put it Saturday afternoon, “Colin played like a man.” A similar, double-digit tackle night against Prospect earned rave reviews from the opposition.

Buscarini said he's always had a high threshhold for pain. Even though he was told after the initial injury that if the knee locked he was finished, he admitted “he was pretty sneaky” the times it happened and bit down a little harder on his mouthpiece and worked it back into place.

But coming back so soon after surgery to remove the meniscus was a different deal. Especially getting over an initially shocking sight.

“The only part I didn't like about surgery was waking up with my leg shaved,” Buscarini said with a laugh. “That was a little degrading.”

It wasn't long, though, that Buscarini started to think about playing again. He initially felt he could have played a few days after surgery against Hersey but realized it was out of the question.

But Buscarini had one big question when he went to see team physician Dr. Brian Donahue to have the stitches removed from the knee two days before the Elk Grove game.

His dad Jim, who played baseball and is the son of former St. Patrick football coach Tom Buscarini, knew what was coming. His mom Michelle, who played volleyball at Purdue, was at Dr. Donahue's office when her son popped the question.

“Dr. Donahue said to take it easy and I said, ‘Can I play,'” Colin Buscarini said. “He was like, ‘Oh.'”

But Buscarini had one thing in his favor if anyone said no. He had just turned 18 five days earlier so he could make the call on his own.

“I felt like everyone was taking it as a joke when I said I'm playing this week,” Buscarini said. “People say I'm crazy but it's not crazy for me. I know what I want.”

Buscarini said even some of his coaches weren't sure if he should play. He watched 2½ hours of film Wednesday and Thursday and was ready to go on game day.

To say Buscarini was “limited” to only playing defense sounds silly. He did everything in his power to limit the damange by dynamic Elk Grove quarterback Nick Meyer.

“I can go through physical pain, the physical pain wasn't bad,” Buscarini said. “It was more at the end of the game when you look at it, you're down 2 touchdowns, there's two minutes left and your knee is hurting pretty bad…”

And the sinking feeling starts to hit as it does for so many other kids. Even those like Buscarini, who will find a home somewhere next year.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Buscarini is realistic enough to understand the difference in the level of play at the next level. There has been some interest but no scholarship offers at this point.

But wherever he lands, there will be no question about his desire and determination to play a game he loves.

“The worst part about it was people would say, ‘OK, you can play next year,'” Buscarini said. “Don't get me wrong, it's great to have an opportunity to play next year.

“But this is the final high school game of my career. People don't understand that.”

Those who really know Colin Buscarini and others like him do understand.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com