By MARK MOLINA| STAFF WRITER
The Pace Vikings’ offense has come on big over the past few games and has become the perfect complement to a stout defense.
Pace hopes to continue that success by featuring the ace up their sleeve in the form of do-it-all running back Brandon Zapata, who has also lined up at receiver and even played some quarterback early this season.
The senior is the team’s Swiss Army Knife, but he will be the first to tell you he’s just there to do his part and lead the team.
“I’m just trying to help lead the team as a senior because as a senior you have to step up for the younger ones,” Zapata said. “I come in and do whatever the coaches tell me to do. If they want me to go for a route, I’ll go for a route. If they want me to run the ball, I’ll run the ball and if they want me to be the second-string QB, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever the team needs me to do.”
Zapata has been rested at times during the course of season as Pace head coach Danny Pardo has tried to keep him fresh for the late stretch.
In the time he has played, however, the senior has rushed for 500 yards, passed for 171 and has another 143 more receiving with seven total touchdowns.
In last week’s loss against Mission Veterans, Zapata showed what he could do on the ground as he rushed for 183 yards and two scores to lead the Vikings’ offensive attack.
Pardo hopes that will continue here late in the season as he expects to feature Zapata over the final two weeks and into the playoffs.
“We wanted to hold (Zapata) out one more game, but in the second half of the last game we had to jump,” Pace head coach Pardo said. “Brandon is going to be our horse; he’s going to run. He’s going to take every snap from now on and carrying the ball every time we can put it in his hands. We told him when push comes to shove in the final stretch, you’re it. I told that his number has been called and we’re going to ride him and he said ‘Coach, I’m ready.”
Zapata has prepared for this exact stretch during the summer and preseason as he put in the time to add more speed to his game and get stronger.
“I worked out a lot and worked on my speed, because I needed to get faster,” he said. “I wanted to be one of the fastest on the team and I wanted to be stronger. I worked out a lot so I can be one of the leaders on this team.”
Zapata has led by displaying a strong work ethic this season, but Pardo said that his running back’s quiet demeanor also has been a big part of how he leads and helps the offense.
With a lot of young players coming in this season, that presence has been quite the asset.
“He’s real calm, so the kids that are in their first year and not playing too much varsity ball, they kind of feed off of him,” Pardo said. “He’s real laid, doesn’t say much and just kind of goes to work. The rest of the kids emulate what he’s doing. The offense is following what he does.”
“I try to pass on all the knowledge I have,” Zapata added. “I try to give the most that I can, like showing (younger players) how to read defenses, how to read holes (in the line) for the running backs and how to be patient.”
Zapata is glad to see the hard work is translating to the win column and says that there now are only one thing left to do this season: Have playoff success so he and his team are remembered by future players.
“It’s been great,” Zapata said. “I don’t like losing and we’ve been winning a lot this year and I’ve enjoyed it. Now I want to see us go past the first round of the playoffs. I want everyone to know that comes to play (at Pace) how hard I worked and what we did — I want to leave my mark.”