By Andy Walter

CAMDEN — As a fullback, Brock Conner made a living running the ball up the middle.

On this particular play, though, the Caesar Rodney High senior took the ball to the outside.

But when he got pulled to the ground by an Archmere defender last October, Conner knew something was wrong with his left leg. The player had landed on his ankle.

“I thought it was just like a stinger,” said Conner. “It didn’t feel good but I didn’t know it was broken.”

The X-rays showed that Conner had indeed broken both the tibia and fibula in his left leg. With three games left in the season, his CR football career was over.

Six months later, though, Conner will be putting back on his Riders’ helmet and shoulder pads and heading out to the CR practice field this week.

The Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game has given the fullback another chance at ending his high school career on the field. He and his Gold teammates open camp on Sunday at CR, where they’ll be practing all week.

The 66th annual DFRC Blue-Gold Game will be held on Friday at Delaware Stadium at 7 p.m.

On the play when Conner got hurt, Riders’ coach Dan Candeloro remembers thinking maybe the injury wouldn’t be too bad.

“When he ran off, I was like maybe it’s just a sprain or something like that,” said Candeloro. “I was hoping maybe to get him back in a week or two. But obviously that didn’t happen.”

Conner was a career 1,000-yard rusher for the Riders. Having him sidelined was a big loss for CR.

“He did a great job for us — just a tough runner,” said Candeloro. “He came to work every day.”

The injury was serious enough that Conner didn’t start competing in wrestling until mid-January.

Despite missing the three contests, Conner still earned first-team Class 3A District 2 honors in football. He wasn’t sure where that left him as far as being selected for the Blue-Gold game.

“I had sort of forgot about the Blue-Gold game,” said Conner. “When people would mention it to me, I’d be like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I made it because of my injury and not getting to play.’

“So I was pretty excited about it when I found out — and I still am excited. I get to play another game in football and with a good team. I’m just excited to play. And it’s warm. I hate playing football in the cold.”

Candeloro is happy that Conner gets the chance to write a better final chapter to his high school football career.

As a three-sport athlete, Conner was a big part of this year’s CR senior class. He’s going to be attending Delaware State University in the fall.

“He was involved within the school and all his classmates like him,” said Candeloro. “He’s a good kid and I’m just glad he was able to get this last game.”

Extra points

Both squads will hold scrimmages on Wednesday. The Gold team will scrimmage at CR at 5 p.m. with the Blue squad’s session at 6 p.m. at Newark High. ... There are a total of 24 Henlopen Conference players on the Gold roster. Dover and Laurel each have three players in the contest ... Conner is joined by CR teammate Nate Waite in the game. ... On Friday, the Delaware Stadium parking lot opens at 3 p.m. with tailgating permitted. ... The stadium gates open to spectators at 5 p.m.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 741-8227 or walter@iniusa.org.
Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.