Vista Del Lago blows out El Camino to rebound in Capital Athletic League race
The music was blaring as students clad in red, white and blue jumped around. They threw blue smoke in the air and held their phones up like lighters at a concert. They were happy to be back after the pandemic cost the school, and so many others, its football season in 2020.
There wasn’t much regard for what was going on between the lines at Vista Del Lago High School from the student section Friday night with visiting El Camino on the opposing sideline. Students attending their homecoming football game were joyous, spending more time focusing on the party in the stands than what was happening on the field below.
Which was understandable given the 56-20 score — and constant penalty flags thrown by officials.
“It’s just nice to be back,” Vista Del Lago head coach Kyle Landes said as students surrounded the football team on the field after the blowout. “To be able to get (a win) for the seniors who lost out on last year, it’s a great thing.”
Sophomore receiver Matt Long scored three touchdowns and the defense added two more off turnovers, including a 90-yard interception return from safety Aiden Santos. Senior quarterback Jakob Hollingshaus, who was nominated for homecoming court at halftime, was steady throughout, and hit Long for a 31-yard touchdown with six seconds left in the first half after El Camino made it a one-score game after the home team jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
Landes’ team came out of Friday with its first win in the Capital Athletic League after dropping its league opener last week against Capital Christian, 62-40. The Eagles’ defense bounced back with a two score performance and put the offense in position to capitalize off a slew of turnovers. They improved to 3-2 on the season with four-straight league games upcoming.
El Camino (3-2), which beat Rio Americano in its league opener last week, lost explosive running back Gesyrus Scott to an apparent leg injury in the second quarter and the offense struggled to find its rhythm. Dual-threat quarterback Luke Coleman battled through a slew of big hits and seemed hobbled by games’ end, but showed his toughness with a handful of big runs and broken tackles.
Junior Rashid Tanko, listed as a receiver, stepped in at running back in Scott’s absence for El Camino and was one of the most dynamic players on the field. But El Camino’s offense couldn’t hang with the home team that received another big performance from senior running back Tyler Peterson, who came in averaging nearly 160 years per game on the ground.
“It’s nice to see us rally,” Landes said. “This group’s great at turning it on when we want to, we just have to make sure we turn it on at all times.”
The theme for Vista Del Lago’s homecoming was “Vista reps the pride,” with a USA theme. Students wore red-striped suspenders and star-spangled hats. Many had American flags painted on their faces. “Born in the USA” was among the songs played on the patriotic playlist.
Vista Del Lago scored its first touchdown in unexpected fashion. Hollingshaus on a drive in the first quarter was forced to exit the game after getting his helmet ripped off during a tackle. It led to backup quarterback, sophomore John Koett, throwing his first varsity touchdown pass on the next snap. Koett also led a scoring drive late in the game after Landes put his backups in.
“It was nice to be able to get him in there in the end and be able to run our offense with him,” Landes said. “I was proud of him. Jakob Hollingshaus, when he’s on, he’s on. And he’s difficult to beat. I’m really proud of the way he played tonight.”
Both Vista Del Lago and El Camino are 1-1 in league play and sit behind Capital Christian and Sacramento High in the standings, who are both undefeated in the early going.
“It’s nice to bounce back from last week,” said Landes. “At the end of the day, we don’t want the scoreboard to dictate everything we do. We got some things to clean up to continue to move forward and make a run at the playoffs.”
