Living a dream

BARRY FAULKNER

Offensive linemen know the drill. Snap after snap, they drill

defenders, allowing the “skill” positions to score the touchdowns.

On a good day, a tailback throws his linemen a bone, complimenting

the largely anonymous contribution of his trench dwellers to a

reporter. Sometimes, a coach’s praise will make the paper or, rarer

still, a photograph of a run will, coincidentally, pick up the image

of a pulling guard leading a sweep or a tackle blocking down, paving

the way for statistics that seem specifically designed to perpetuate

the lineman’s place in the periphery.

Now in his third season as a varsity starter, Costa Mesa High

senior Brett Via has toiled tirelessly -- and thanklessly -- in the

nameless neutral zone. Via, in fact, began his varsity career at

center, where the necessity of touching the ball on every play

creates a type of tactile torture for those who dream of, someday,

personally producing points.

Via had earned some measure of renown as a linebacker, earning

second-team All-Golden West League laurels last fall. But the

6-foot-2, 220-pounder longed for greater gridiron glory.

So, he asked Mustangs Coach Dave Perkins about a shift from guard

to tight end before spring practice in May. Remarkably, Perkins and

his staff agreed, prompting an entire off-season of justifiable

fantasizing.

“I was looking forward to catching the ball,” said Via, who

reports his time in the 40-yard dash as a pedestrian 4.9 seconds.

But an injury to tackle Rodrigo Gutierrez in the preseason

scrimmage prompted Via’s return to guard, forcing him to trade in his

jersey No. 42 -- and the promise of becoming an eligible receiver --

for his familiar No. 59.

Ironically, one week before Via’s expected return to tight end

(Friday at Laguna Beach), his touchdown dream came true, when he

first directed a blocked punt toward the end zone, then fell on it

for six points in Mesa’s 33-16 win Thursday at Huntington Beach.

“When I saw the ball [on the ground somewhere near the 5-yard

line], I was definitely thinking ‘Grab it and run into the end zone,’

” Via said. “But when I went to grab it, someone hit my arms and I

lost control. I just tried to bat it toward the end zone.”

That’s where the ball wound up, but Via then faced another

challenge.

“I started running after it and Al [Rodriguez, who had blocked the

punt], was yelling ‘Let it go! Let it go!’ because he wanted to get

it himself,” Via said.

Wisely, Via ignored his teammate’s “encouragement” and made the

recovery to give his team a 23-10 lead just moments into the third

quarter.

“I got up off the ground and heard the crowd screaming,” recalled

Via, whose impromptu celebration, throwing his hands in the air and

screaming, was captured for perpetuity by Daily Pilot photographer

Kent Treptow. “I was telling myself ‘I just scored a touchdown.’ ”

Could it be the first of many? Good luck, Brett, with No. 42.