Vista freshman football team finishes undefeated

Vista freshman football coach Hunter Corbitt had heard about this group of boys who would become this year's freshman football team as far as two years ago. For Corbitt, this group exceeded expectations, as they finished the season with a 10-0 record after beating Monterey Trail, 52-20, on Thursday afternoon. "I heard about this group about a year ago and how many high-effort players they have and the talent level and the way they play the game," Corbitt said. "After the summer program, I had a lot of confidence, but you really have no idea until you play someone." This group of 44 players, about 10 more kids than Vista usually has for a freshman team, had got it done the last few years of youth football. Two years ago, this group made it to the junior midget championship game before losing to Granite Bay, but last year they fulfilled their mission and won the midget championship. The team hasn't lost since. This year as freshmen at Vista del Lago, this group was led by three players on offense; quarterback Jacoby More, running back Gavin Brainerd and wide receiver Drake Menezes. The Eagles averaged 39 points per game. "Teams had to try to stop our run game first and foremost and once they tried to do that, that opened up every deep ball for us," said Corbitt, a second-year head coach for the Eagles who's been coaching in the program for years. "It was pretty fun calling plays this year." More completed 63 percent of his passes (85-for-134) for 1,551 yards and 20 touchdowns against only three interceptions. "Jacoby had a phenomenal year," Corbitt said. "He's a high-IQ football player who puts the time in to perfect his craft. He's got a great arm and is very athletic and can use his feet to get out of trouble." Brainerd, as the team's lead running back, gained 938 yards on 88 carries for an average of nearly 11 yards per carry and scored 21 touchdowns on the ground and caught two more passing touchdowns. "Gavin could probably play any position on the team," Corbitt said. "He scored four touchdowns a game on multiple occasions. He was definitely a takeover the game type of player for us." Menezes did the job at receiver for the Eagles, as he was their deep ball threat. He caught 32 passes for 733 yards and scored nine touchdowns. He averaged just shy of 23 yards per catch. "Drake is the second-fastest kid on the team and was our deep threat," Corbitt said. "He's a big-time player who could make contested catches." Anchoring the offensive line up front was center Lucas Hochanadel. "Lucas did a great job anchoring the line," Corbitt said. "He's tall and skinny so he didn't look like a center, but he had enough size to get the job done." As good as the offense was, Corbitt said he felt the strength of the team was its linebackers, and he had a lot of them who contributed. Miles Schulze was the team's leader and Gio Righini stepped up when Schulze went down with a season-ending injury. Other linebackers who helped make it a dominant unit included Kian Hayathavoudi, Gavin Aubrey, Gage Boggan, Ryan Mallett, Landon Tremeling and Caden Huerta. "Miles was our mike linebacker and he's a phenomenal defensive football player," said Corbitt, who played linebacker at Vista before graduating in 2018. "He'll be playing at higher level for a long time. He's a great tackler. "After he went down with a knee injury, Gio Righini replaced him and did a good job." Other leaders on defense included Sonny Goodman on the defensive line and Cruz Becerra at safety. "Once the season started Sonny took over at nose guard for us and Cruz played great at safety," Corbitt said. "We were very strong on defense. We only gave up 10 points a game and that's fantastic." The closest game the Eagles had this year was against Granite Bay on Sept. 12, a game they won by only seven points, 20-13. "We were down 13-6 at halftime," Corbitt said. "The last time this group faced Granite Bay they got blown out by them in seventh grade. We were on the ropes, but we made some adjustments at halftime and the kids responded really well and outscored them 14-0 in the second half. "After that game we had high confidence going into the rest of our games that we could win them." Corbitt feels this group should have a lot of success moving forward. "This team was resilient and pulls together when they face adversity," Corbitt said. "We had a sickness go through this team and also had several injuries but this team pulled together and was like one big family. That made them fun to coach. "I believe they can be as good as last year's graduating class. They've got a bright future and high ceiling."