“I heard the crack, I was in a world of pain, and I knew that my season was over,’’ he recalled this week, nearly a year to the day that his playing career at Williams College was dramatically altered.

But lying on the saturated grass at Hamilton College, awaiting the stretcher, the gifted receiver from Andover could not have envisioned the difficult road ahead: the excruciating pain, the endless hours of rehabilitation, and the feeling of helplessness.

His left tibia was broken, his femur was damaged (bone chips), he had a torn meniscus and medial collateral ligament in his knee, and 15 to 20 percent of the cartilage would have to be removed.

A few weeks later, after a three-hour operation at Winchester Hospital to repair the leg, Dr. Joseph Czarnecki delivered devastating news: Nick Caro would never play football again.

Caro had followed Brian Morrissey, his former teammate at the Governor’s Academy in Byfield, to Williamstown. By his sophomore year, he had developed into one of the most promising receivers in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, a 6-foot-3-inch, 235-pound package of power, speed, and athleticism.

His diving grab against archrival Amherst was voted by ESPN as one of the top 10 catches of 2007 in college football.

Through the Ephs’ first five games last fall, he was averaging 17.4 yards per catch on 32 receptions. “Just a dominant player,’’ said Tufts coach Bill Samko.

Williams coach Mike Whalen said Caro was “by far the most skilled player in the league. He was a man amongst boys. He was the fastest player in the league, and no one could tackle him, and he was on his way to breaking every receiving record here.’’

Instead his focus became how to lose the crutches and somehow walk again without a limp, through the long days and nights of the cold winter, loaded up on painkillers, confined to his dorm room. His academic load, as an Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies major, was a bear, too. He had been accepted to study abroad in Jordan.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t go, that was pretty rough,’’ said Caro, who hopes to work for the FBI or the State Department.

He was not alone, however.

His family was there every step of the way. Two teammates, Henry Montalbano (winter session), and Scott Sobolewski (second semester), moved into his handicap access room on the first floor. The Ephs made sure that three meals per day, from the dining hall, were delivered to his dorm.

“He was bed-ridden for a month or two,’’ said Sobolewski. “Our main role was to make him feel better; he thought he had played his last snap. We never looked at it as a burden, he was one of our brothers.’’

Caro said that he “will never forget what they did for me.’’

By late March, he was walking, but very gingerly with a cane.

His teammates, however, respecting his leadership qualities, voted him a captain for his senior season. That honor was “humbling,’’ according to Caro.

Whalen was envisioning a role for him as a student-coach.

In early May, however, wearing a brace, Caro jogged around the field at the Ephs’ annual testing day. “He said, ‘Coach, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’d like to try [to play],’ ’’ said Whalen.

On June 2, when X-rays revealed that the bone was healing better than anticipated, Caro was given the go-ahead to try, “but I would be 80 percent, at best, and it would be painful,’’ said Caro.

His eyes lit up when he heard the news, according to his mother. “He was miserable without football,’’ she said, “but on the other hand, we didn’t want him to get hurt again.’’

He changed his diet, mixed in light runs with workouts on the bike and elliptical machine, low-impact stuff, and shed 10 pounds. “Never seen someone work so hard,’’ said Sobolewski, the Ephs’ kicker.

Two weeks before the opener, he committed to playing, understanding that he would not be the player he once was.

The first time he touched the ball in a scrimmage against Amherst, the corner took out his left knee, naturally. Up in the stands, his parents held their breath. “I fell down, but I was OK,’’ said Caro.

The following week, the Ephs rallied in the final minute for a dramatic 23-19 season-opening win at Colby, and Caro, amazingly, delivered 10 catches for 100 yards. “I looked up at the scoreboard, and that was my ‘wow’ moment,’’ he said, calling it his greatest moment in sports.

He scored two touchdowns at unbeaten Trinity, but left the field dejected, and physically drained, after a 26-21 loss, forcing him to the sideline against Bates. “That was my fault, we really have to identify the plays we want him out there,’’ said Whalen, who terms Caro’s comeback a “minor miracle.’’

His practice schedule now limited to two days per week, he remains a force and an inspiration, said quarterback Patrick Moffitt, with a team-leading 24 catches for the 4-1 Ephs.

He has had today’s matchup against visiting Hamilton circled since the beginning of the season. And his picture, fittingly, will grace the cover of the game program.

“What kept me going?’’ asked Caro, who will have follow-up surgery to remove screws in his leg the day after Thanksgiving. “I felt like I was letting the team down if I didn’t try, and I was embarrassed, my pride was hurt. I didn’t want to be remembered as the kid that got hurt and couldn’t play his senior year.’’

Craig Larson can be reached at clarson@globe.com