Prep football: Vista del Lago beats Del Campo, increases win streak to four

In the middle of the first quarter, disaster struck for the Vista del Lago football team.

Eagles star quarterback Johnny Koett went down with an injury. Although he was cleared to return, he did not go back into the game. Before Friday night, the junior threw for 1,586 yards and 20 touchdowns this season.

Enter Thomas Keegan. The senior running back led the charge on offense in a Capital Athletic League contest. He had touchdown runs of 1, 4, 6 and 19 yards in a 35-14 win over Del Campo in Folsom.

Three of Keegan’s four touchdowns came in the second half to put the game away.

“There was an initial shock,” Vista del Lago coach Kyle Landes said. “Johnny is a great leader off the field and on it. It took us a minute to get settled in.”

“Thomas does a great job. He’s patient in the run game. He’s got great vision and he’s a little bit more shifty than he would think he’d be. We are really proud of him. He did a great job learning behind Tyler Peterson last year and he’s carrying on that Vista tradition of playing running back tough and physical.”

With Koett out, junior Will Anderson came in and facilitated the offense. The offensive line of Brandon Nazworth, Andrew Powers, Jack Tatem Jakob Southerland paved ways for Keegan and Xavier Bryant. Bryant ran for a 36-yard touchdown in the first half.

Max Vota had a sack on defense and Camden King had a first half interception.

“Will Anderson did a fantastic job stepping up,” Landes said. “All credit to the offensive line and the running backs we put out there. … Any team that wants to make a deep run has to be physical in the run game. We have done a good job the past couple of weeks putting some stuff together and kind of exercising the demons on it to put the ball in the end zone on the ground through the ground. I’m proud of how physical those guys are.”

Vista del Lago junior Matt Long also filled in at running back. The junior has been the Eagles’ best wide receiver this season, averaging 117.4 yards per game.

“The best part about Matt is who he is upstairs,” Landes said. “He’s a fantastic athlete but the fact that he leads his teammates, he’s the most vocal guy in the locker room and wants to do well is clearly the secret to Matt Long. I love the fact that you do whatever he needs him to do. He’s a team guy.”

After starting the season 1-3, Vista del Lago has won four straight. The Eagles’ last loss came against Placer at home in September. After the game, Placer coach said Vista del Lago was “the best 1-3 team in the section.”

Now they’re putting it together with two critical games against Rio Americano and Christian Brothers coming up,

“I scheduled a tough preseason believing that our guys would either learn from it or overcome it,” Landes said. “We have done both. … I’m looking forward to seeing how deep we can take this thing.”

Del Campo with the loss dropped to 2-5. Nas Jones scored the Cougars’ first touchdown and quarterback Angel Reyna ended the game with a 1-yard quarterback sneak for six. Del Campo plays Capital Christian next.

This story was originally published October 7, 2022 at 11:05 PM.