TOWAMENCIN – “Pass complete to number 22, Nick Dillon, good for a North Penn Knights TOUCHDOWN.” It’s not an unfamiliar phrase heard over the Crawford Stadium public address on Friday nights. Dillon is both a solid player and a key component to the 2016 football squad at North Penn, who just completed a perfect 10-0 regular season, but behind the scenes he is struggling through difficult times that most people do not observe while he is making plays on Friday nights.

On a team with many weapons, Dillon’s contributions to another Conference title for the Knights, who open district play tomorrow, have been multi-faceted.

“He’s an explosive runner who is tough to tackle in open spaces,” head coach Dick Beck said of Dillon. “He’s also a good receiver out of the backfield.”

Over the course of nine regular season games, Dillon, the senior running back who has never worn gloves to play, has had 12 touchdowns, 97 carries for 645 yards. These stats include when he had to sit out the second game, and when he is taken in and out with limited playing time during some games. These limits are due to an ankle injury that he has been grappling with throughout his career.

Since 9th grade during Dillon’s 7 on 7 league for football, when he popped out his hip, he has had reoccurring injuries. After popping out his hip, he started breaking his ankles and from then on he’s had an ankle issue. Coming off injury he feels that he will fall behind other players, so he overworks himself, which is big part of the problem.

Besides his injuries one would think with a solid player like Dillon, football runs in his family. That is not exactly the case for him.

“My dad wasn’t really excited for me to play, he was more of a soccer guy, but he couldn’t stop me from playing football,” said Dillon.

Football was not the first sport in which Dillon took interest. He started running track and playing soccer around 4 years old. He was one of the faster kids on his club track team. His uncle was always trying to get him to come out for the football team because they could use his speed on the field. Because his track coach flaunted around how fast Dillon was, his uncle just had to teach him how to play football and he had a spot on the team. He was playing both club football and soccer, and around age 12 it became too much. With the overlapping of sports he got tired of soccer and wanted to devote all his time to football. Despite his lack of interest, he also had someone in his life, who made football mean the world to him.

“I was always around my older cousin when I was younger, that’s really how my attachment to football started. I spent so much time with her because I was always with her when my mom was going to school and my parents were separated. She came to every game and would tell me ‘every time you score I’ll give you $20. I would go to games and look up at the same spot and see her holding up the money. This was my motivation and I would go out and score 5-6 times each game. Every time she had days off work she’d come to watch me play. Once she got diagnosed with cancer everything started to get hard. My family had to focus on her, especially because it was usually just her, and her mom came around a little bit to help out. It was hard after she passed, but it made me love football more. I do it all for her because I know how much she loved watching me play,” said Dillon.

Although this is one of the main reasons he works so hard, often overworking himself, he will do anything to make his cousin proud, which makes it hard for him to have to sit out of games. At the beginning of all the games, he looks up and takes a knee for his cousin. From this point on she is connected with him on the field, his pain is irrelevant to him, and nothing can stop him. This passion, motivation, and determination, unfortunately, is not doing much to help his injury or his future.

Depending on senior year to get looked at for a sport by a school is a risky move, but for Dillon it’s the only chance he has. Sitting out basically all of junior year, Dillon knows a scholarship is pretty farfetched because colleges look mostly at stats from junior year. Also, since he gets the ball a little less now, in fear of injuries, depending on senior year is almost totally unrealistic for him.

“I want to play more, but I understand that coach is doing the right thing by making sure I get better first. I know I should have listened to the trainers more in the past, and not come back off of injury so quick,” said Dillon.

Dillon is confident that he is good enough to play at the collegiate level, but the timing of his injury is an issue. For now he balances football and grades, knowing he can’t rely on an athletic scholarship. During the week it’s grades that are focused on in his house, but Friday nights it’s about how he performs.

“From high school to college football is like a whole new chapter in life. I would like to apply the skills I have now to college, and just keep working and training hard, but that is all up to my body. So in the end, the only thing I can control, is making my cousin proud,” said Dillon.