Ryan Dorso remembers the game, remembers the hit and, above all, remembers the headaches that often accompany a concussion.
“It wasn’t very fun,” said Dorso, a Farmingdale native and freshman on the Husson University football team. “I knew right away. I had a concussion in high school and it was pretty much the same feeling. It was tough.”
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Dorso, who transferred to Husson from the University of Maine this fall, opened the season competing for carries in a deep and talented backfield.
By the third week of the season, Dorso earned the starting tailback job for the Eagles (0-8).
However, the former Kents Hill School standout running back was forced to the sidelines after suffering a concussion at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8.
“Coming into the season we had a good group of running backs,” Husson coach Sean Murphy said. “We thought it would be our most competitive position. We had high hopes for Ryan. He’s a talented athlete. We expected him to come in as a featured back in our offense.”
The concussion changed those plans.
“I pretty much had to lay low,” said Dorso, who has 31 rushing yards and a touchdown this season. “I had to go through concussion tests and just try to stay in shape. I had to keep going, but I didn’t know when I’d be able to come back.”
Dorso passed all his concussion tests and re-joined his Husson teammates Monday for the first time in three weeks.
The moment couldn’t have come soon enough for Dorso, who is also Husson’s top punt returner.
“I had hoped to come back last week but that didn’t happen,” he said. “I had to sit out another week. Watching games on the sideline isn’t very fun. But I got to put my helmet back on (Monday). It was great.”
Added Murphy: “We’re going to phase him back in there. We do have huge plans for him.”
Dorso hopes to join former Portland High School standout Imadhi Zagon in the backfield this weekend at Castleton State in Castleton, Vt.
Byron Jackson, another running back expected to play a big role this season for Husson, is out with an injury as well.
“I don’t know where I stand right now,” Dorso said. “I don’t know if I’m second string, third string, first string, or what. I need to work hard and see where it takes me.”
Dorso, who also did a post-graduate year at Kents Hill, enrolled at Maine last January. He hoped to play football for the Black Bears this season, but decided to transfer to Husson instead.
“Maine was a good school, but it’s just a big place,” he said. “I wasn’t used to that. Coming from Kents Hill, where the classes are small, I was just used to that. I liked that. I wanted to be at a place where I could know my professors. I’m not going to make it to the NFL. I was thinking about my future.”
Dorso, who plans to major in sports management, hopes his immediate future includes a few more touches out of the Husson backfield.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m excited to be back.”
Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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