Ricky Gibson loves football. He loves Maranacook football. In his dreams, he's on the field in his number 34 for the Black Bears. Not in a wheelchair on the sidelines, exhausted from another round of chemotherapy and cancer treatment.

"My football team is kind of like another family," Ricky, a 15-year old sophomore, said. "In a way it keeps me out of trouble and my grades up. Everyone always has my back and it's just been the thing I look forward to going to school for."

It started with slurred speech. Then Ricky had double vision in his left eye.

Please, prayed his parents, Rick and Lisa. Please let it just be the after affects of a concussion.

From the initial symptoms on an early September Tuesday to the horrifying diagnosis took four days. Ricky has Pontine Glioma, an aggressive tumor in the brain stem. Ricky has been undergoing treatment at Augusta's Alfond Center for Cancer Care.

"He's still with us," Lisa Gibson said. "So far, so good."

Friends and family chipped in to send Ricky to a Red Sox game and to Indianapolis to see his favorite NFL team, the Colts. But when the generous people from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine asked Ricky what he wanted, he paused. He didn't really want anything.

After talking to his aunt Cindy, Ricky realized there was one thing he wanted.

He wanted his football team to play home games under the Friday night lights, in front of a full set of bleachers.

The Black Bears' home field at Maranacook Community High School is a fixer-upper. Even the scoreboard clock didn't work properly in the second half of Saturday's game against Winslow. The place could use a sturdy set of bleachers and lights.

That's what Ricky, who was set to start at cornerback and return kicks and punts for the Black Bears this season, thought.

"I wanted to raise money for football, because we never have Friday home games and we always go somewhere else," Ricky said. "We don't have the lights and bleachers so we could have Friday night games."

This was Ricky's fourth year playing football. In eighth grade, his coach asked Ricky to punt. He took the snap, then ran up the sideline for a touchdown, to the surprise of everyone.

"He's an unbelievable athlete," said Rick, his father. "He excels at football, baseball. Anything he wants."

"He plays with so much heart on the football field," Maranacook head coach Kevin Norwood said. "I think we saw today how much heart he has off the field."

The estimated cost for lights and bleachers is around $200,000, much more than the average dream granted by Make-A-Wish. Thankfully, the price tag didn't deter anyone. Make-A-Wish put up $6,000, the average cost of a granted wish in Maine, to get the fundraising started. Make-A-Wish provided bleachers for Saturday's game, just to give Maranacook fans a preview.

During a halftime ceremony, it was announced the project had just over $9,000. By the end of the game, Lisa Gleeson of Make-A-Wish said that number was $12,800, plus whatever money came in from concession sales during the game.

This is where you come in. If everybody who reads this donates five bucks, there will be plenty of money for the Maranacook renovations. Five bucks is nothing. Brown bag your lunch one day. You probably have that much in change sitting in a coffee can in the garage.

Send whatever you can to: Maranacook Football, Inc., P.O. Box 711, Manchester, ME 04351.

Let's raise this money quickly, so the Black Bears can play under the lights next fall.

You get better, Ricky. This was your idea, after all. The first time those lights come on, we'll need you to flip the switch.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com