Fenwick star playing in memory of father

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:58PM

On the bus ride to the Prep Bowl Friday against Curie, Fenwick middle linebacker Rick Sorrentino will be sitting in the same seat just behind the bus driver that he has occupied for four years. But it is not about superstition.

"I just want to be closer to my dad," explained Sorrentino, whose father drove the Fenwick bus before his death last February.

"I feel him there. Even when he was gone, I know he would be there with me. And he will be with me on the field as well."

Sorrentino is a two-year starter and was named all-conference. He leads the Friars with 65 tackles and also plays fullback where he has scored a pair of touchdowns.

"He is a special kid," Fenwick coach Joe DeCanio said. "I have known the family for a long time and when his dad passed I became like a surrogate father to him. We talk all the time."

Sorrentino, who lives with his mother and four sisters, welcomes his time with DeCanio.

"He has been very good to me," Sorrentino said. "On any given day, the house could have 6 to 7 women in.

Sorrentino hopes to play in college, where he hopes to study nursing.

"That's the type of kid he is," DeCanio said. "He always wants to help people."

But in the meantime, it is the Prep Bowl and remembering his dad.

"That's all I have been thinking about," Sorrentino said. "That is what this season has been for. My dad."

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