Toni Zuccaro didn't think she was looking at a future football star as she watched her son in there under that clear plastic canopy. She ignored the apparatus around him, focusing intently on his tiny mouth gasping for air, and the rhythmic patter of his chest rising and falling.
Rushel Shell has a shot atthe rushing record in Pennsylvania.
Photo by Tom Lemming
Football star? Heck, if
Rushel Shell grew up to even play football, or any sport for that matter, she thought to herself, that would be a miracle. It explains why her eyes would fill with tears each time Rushel, barely able to fit inside his oversized helmet, would navigate his way through a maze of little tacklers to another touchdown in the twerps league. The funny thing is that same stride, those instinctive dips, starts and stops, they're all the same today.
So are the results: Touchdowns.
To see him today, a ripped, explosive, 6-feet and 210 pounds, you wouldn't know about Shell's early battle with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that placed him in a breathing tent clinging to life as an infant. To see him shed a tackler as if he were paper, or accelerate past a slew of players, you wouldn't know the early challenges he beat to become one of the best high school tailbacks in the nation.
The
Hopewell (Aliquippa, Pa.) senior has already shattered a number of school records that weren't previously owned by just any tailback. They belonged to the man the stadium is named after where the Vikings play: Tony Dorsett Stadium. In what spans about two-and-a-half years, not including the remainder of this season, Shell has already rushed for 7,718 yards and 94 touchdowns during his career.
After rushing for 205 yards and three touchdowns in Friday's victory,
Shell now owns the all-time Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League rushing mark that was held by Fort Cherry's Mike Vernillo (7,646). He has an outside chance of catching Pennsylvania's all-time career leading rusher, Jeremiah Young (Steelton-Highspire High School, 2004-2007), and his mark of 9,027, needing 1,309 yards with six regular-season games and what hopes to be a promising lengthy postseason ahead.
He's about to go on national television on Oct. 14 when Hopewell plays Central Valley (Monaca, Pa.) and declare which college he will attend. The choices are between Alabama, Pittsburgh and Oregon. He's also a talented baseball player, playing right field for the Vikings during the spring.
But none of this would be possible if not for the strong will of his mother and the incredible fight a baby boy put up some 18 years ago.
"Rushel was a big baby (8 pounds, 14 ounces), but he was actually a very sick baby, too," recalled Zuccaro. "You see, a lot of people don't know how fortunate Rushel is. He had asthma and RSV. He's lucky to even be alive. He was in children's hospital for seven days, and there some things you never forget. I went through a lot of hospital visits with him and his asthma. I never even dreamed of him playing any sports, let alone football. I remember him playing at 4 years old, and they didn't put him in at all."
The first time Shell ever carried a football in an organized game, he bolted for 40 yards. Zuccaro remembers how natural Shell looked doing it, zig-zagging his way by defenders. One time, when Shell was 8, he scored the longest touchdown in Pennsylvania history: 297 yards, his mother likes to joke. He once took a handoff 99 yards for a score, and was forced to repeat the rare feat three times, consequently, because penalties negated the first two TDs.
Through time, Shell's asthma dissipated. He grew bigger, stronger, and better.
"I loved football ever since I was a little kid," Shell said. "Whenever I got the ball in my hands, my body just goes into a different mode, like I'm on a cloud. It's always been like that for some reason. I pride myself a little on being a combination back, someone who is strong to run through you, or shifty to make you miss."
He's dealt well with defenses geared up to stop him. The Vikings have a revamped offensive line this season, with no returning starters from last year. Still, Shell has exploded for 147 yards in 14-7 victory over Belle Vernon in the Vikings' season opener, 233 in a 22-19 victory over Montour and 367 yards and six touchdowns in a 56-28 victory over Moon Area on Sept. 16.
He carries a streak of 33 straight games in which he has rushed for 100 yards or more.
"My priority is the team, I'm all about my team. I can care less about my stats, as long as we win," Shell said. "I've always had that attitude. I grew up with the guys on my team since first grade and sometimes you have to let other people come up with big plays. We know someone will always be shadowing me, so I'm OK with being used as a decoy sometimes."
The operative word is
sometimes.
Vikings coach Dave Vestal knows how talented Shell is, and what he likes most about his star, once-in-a-generation player
is his ability to step to the forefront when the game gets tense.
"Rushel is a special kid, and he has special talent, but when the game is on the line, Rushel will make it happen," Vestal said. "He wants the ball and it's something he's always had. He really thrives when the game is on the line, and whenever you think of just one play that you'll remember from him, he comes back and does something even more spectacular."
Vestal recanted a 75-yard touchdown run against Belle Vernon. The play was designed to go one way, but when Shell was greeted by the Belle Vernon defense, he reversed his field (think Marcus Allen's 74-yard touchdown run against the Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII) and took off through a gap for 75 yards and a touchdown. In Shell's wake was a field dotted with Belle Vernon defenders on their knees, their heads down in disbelief, wondering what they just saw.
Shell has that ‘wow' ability that can electrify a team.
"Rushel looks so natural doing it, too," Vestal said.
It brings Zuccaro back to the baby in the tent. A few years ago, when she reminded Shell of how fortunate he is to be alive, he told his mother, "I know that God gave me a gift and this is his plan for me; it's why I try to live every day like it's my last."
There was a time when it almost was.
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