Steven Moretto leads the Notre Dame Jugglers in rushing with 379 yards and five touchdowns after two regular season games, both of them wins in the competitive Western Conference of B.C.鈥檚 AAA varsity football league.
Averaging nearly 200 yards a game is impressive, but especially for Moretto because the Grade 12 student is the Jugglers starting quarterback. He鈥檚 also put up 161 yards in the air for four more majors in wins over the then-No. 3 New Westminster Hyacks and South Delta Sun Devils.
Notre Dame鈥檚 varsity coach Richard Scott believes his QB1 is one of the best athletes in the province. 鈥淗is best trait isn鈥檛 just his athletics, it鈥檚 his leadership. He makes guys accountable, they listen to him and they follow him,鈥� said the fifth-year head coach.
Add to his numbers three sacks and one interception for a 40-yard return. That鈥檚 right: he plays defence, too.
Notre Dame hosts defending B.C. champion Mt. Douglas Rams at 5 p.m. Oct. 14 at Burnaby Lake Park.
鈥淲hen you have a horse, you use him when you have to. I鈥檇 like to see if we can get the scores up and have him run less, but in our league and in our division, every game is hard. You have to play your best against the other team鈥檚 best and he is one of our best,鈥� said Scott. 鈥淗e鈥檇 run it every play if he could. He keeps asking for the ball and we actually have to slow him down.鈥�
To coach an 鈥渙n-field coach鈥� like Moretto, the strategy is to keep him calm and focused. 鈥淗e鈥檚 got to be the calm leader,鈥� said Scott. 鈥淗e can still be boisterous and verbal, but you have to keep him on an even keel and not let him think he鈥檚 the only one on the field. He鈥檚 smart enough to know what we鈥檙e doing and how to do it.鈥�
The AAA varsity football season is still young, but Moretto is chasing glory 鈥� the kind his father knew when the former B.C. Lion won a championship ring with the Jugglers. 鈥淗e won in Grade 8, Grade 10 and Grade 12 when he went to Notre Dame,鈥� Moretto said of his father, Rob, a linebacker the Lions drafted in 1987 from the Vanier Cup champion UBC Thunderbirds. 鈥淲e won in Grade 8, we lost in the final in Grade 10, so I鈥檝e got to match him in Grade 12.鈥�
Notre Dame has won the B.C. championship football title more than any other high school in the province. Their last win came in the early 鈥�90s and, as the head coach points out, the league has grown considerably and so has the level 鈥� and size 鈥� of the competition.
鈥淣otre Dame was a dominant program back in the day when there wasn鈥檛 a lot of programs,鈥� said Scott. 鈥淎ll the program now are well-coached, they all scout each other very well, the kids are bigger and stronger, and they鈥檙e all doing specialised workouts. There is no gimme anymore.鈥�
Even if Moretto, 17, repeats his father鈥檚 high school championship success 鈥� one not seen at Notre Dame since 1993 鈥� he won鈥檛 likely follow in those same footsteps to play football at university. Rather, the two-sport teenage talent will play third-base. At Sacramento State, where he鈥檚 already in talks with the baseball program after a season with Canada鈥檚 junior national team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough decision choosing baseball, but I鈥檝e been successful in baseball too and I realize how far that can take me. I can do bigger things with baseball than I can with football,鈥� said Moretto, who was part of the Hastings Little League 2012 national championship team that represented Canada at the World Series. He plays for the North Shore Twins.
Moretto is quick to name the players around him who have contributed to their two wins so far this season, particularly the offensive line.
鈥淓ach game we鈥檙e getting better, being more focused,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone is thinking of the main goal.鈥�
One of the Jugglers linesmen, centre guard Bryan Ly, said it鈥檚 his job to protect his quarterback, but he spends almost as much time marvelling at him as the pivot dashes down the sideline. The Grade 12 football also said Moretto gets all the Jugglers to work harder.
鈥淚 make sure he doesn鈥檛 get hit right away,鈥� said Ly. 鈥淲hen I see him running, first of all I get amazed and then second of all, I鈥檝e got to go down and help him so no one else can touch him because he鈥檚 my quarterback.聽 You see him over there, he鈥檚 a happy guy, he鈥檚 cheerful and he鈥檚 very friendly, but when it comes to game time, he鈥檚 locked down. There is no kidding around, no fooling around. We do all we have to do to win, and at the end of the day, that鈥檚 all that matter: a big 鈥榃鈥� for this Notre Dame team.鈥�
The Notre Dame Jugglers host the defending B.C. champion Mt. Douglas Rams at 5 p.m. Oct. 14 at Burnaby Lake Park.
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