Colin Fasse was a record-busting wide receiver for Mountain League juggernaut St. Joseph last season. He’s back for his senior season.
So is running back Carter Vargas, who rushed for well over 1,000 yards last year.
The two helped St. Joseph to its fourth Mountain League championship under then fifth-year Knights coach Pepe Villasenor, who returns for his sixth year at the helm.
Who will throw the ball to Fasse and hand it off to Vargas this year is an open question.
St. Joseph quarterback Darien Mensah threw for 2,205 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. He was the 2022 Mountain League MVP. Mensah signed with Tulane last fall and graduated last spring.
Fasse hauled in 111 passes for 16 touchdowns last season, tops in the area in both categories as well as single season school records in both. Fasse had 1,221 yards in receptions, just behind area leader Daulton Beard of Santa Ynez, and averaged 19.1 yards a catch.
Whoever the new St. Joseph starting quarterback will be, “I’m confident he’ll do the job,” said Fasse.
Vargas ran for 1,321 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. With his 171 yards in receptions and listed 110 yards on two kickoff returns, Vargas averaged 145.6 all-purpose yards a game, easily tops on the team.
He was also a starter at defensive back, all the while playing with an injured ankle most of the season.
“I had an ankle fracture early in the season, and the ankle wasn’t 100 percent,” the rest of the campaign, said Vargas. “I could only cut hard one way.
“The ankle is perfect now. There’s a big change in the way I’ve been able to cut.”
Villasenor said, “A lot of people didn’t know Carter played hurt a lot of last year. He’s a very tough young man.”
The Knights went 10-2 last season and blistered their Mountain League opposition by a combined 303-96 on the way to their second straight outright Mountain League title.
St. Joseph won its first eight league games, spanning two seasons, during the Villasenor era then lost its opening 2021 league game, to Paso Robles. The Knights went right back to building another Mountain League winning streak afterward. They have won their last 11 league games.
They routed injury-plagued Clovis East 41-6 in the first round of the 2022 Division 1 playoffs then took a pounding themselves, 49-13 at the hands of eventual divisional and 1-A state champion Bakersfield Liberty, in the quarterfinals.
Quarterback competition
Villasenor said junior Jose Corona, and sophomores Nick Matautia and Dylan Crisp are competing for the quarterback spot. Villasenor said all three played for the St. Joseph junior varsity last year.
The picture on offense
Besides the Mensah departure, the Knights also lost Aaron Fierro, a solid No. 2 ball carrier behind Vargas, to graduation. Fierro ran for 544 yards, averaged 54.4 yards a game rushing and nearly eight yards a carry, and rushed for five touchdowns in 2022.
Along with Vargas and Fasse, St. Joseph does have wide receiver Caleb Murawski (12 catches, 186 yards in 2022), along with Nico Ramirez, Jorge Hernandez and Michael Ventura from a productive offensive line, returning.
The picture on defense
Vargas and Jeremiah Philson return at defensive back. Vargas could also see some action on the defensive line. The Knights have four more starters on defense returning, linemen Dylan Flemming and Dominic Soares, and linebackers Mark Pullman and Anthony Vargas.
“For sure, I think our unit is way ahead of where it was at this point last year,” said Pullman, a senior-to-be who is an inside ‘backer.
The unit took a hit from the graduation of reliable defensive back Oscar Magallon. Magallon was also productive on offense, as a secondary back.
Are the starting units on offense and defense determined?
In a word, no. The specialists had not been determined at press time, either.
Coaching staff
A robust list of Knights assistants includes former St. Joseph and Hancock College quarterback standout Curry Parham (offensive coordinator), Chubs Labastida (defensive coordinator), Jim Chvala (offensive line), C.J. Simmons (defensive backs), Ali Azziz (running backs, special teams), Jace Cochiolo (defensive line) and Ainuu Taua (fullbacks, tight ends).
Chvala was the St. Joseph head coach for the two years before Villasenor arrived. Taua and Simmons are former Cabrillo standouts who played for Nevada and Hancock respectively. Azziz is a member of the St. Joseph Sports Hall of Fame who played at UCLA.
Opening day
In a rare day game, the Knights will make their 2023 debut at Palos Verdes Estates Palos Verdes Aug. 18 at 3:30 p.m.
Schedule outlook
The Knights will play the same regular season schedule they did last year. The Mountain League again consists of St. Joseph, Mission Prep, Lompoc, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande, Santa Ynez, Righetti and Nipomo.
St. Joseph’s pre-season opponents will again be Palos Verdes, Bakersfield Christian and Newbury Park. All three made it to divisional semifinals in the 2022 playoffs. Newbury Park saddled St. Joseph with its only loss until the Liberty game.
Newbury Park and Palos Verdes are well-established CIF Southern Section programs, and Palos Verdes won the Bay League championship last year. Bakersfield Christian, an established Central Section squad, took the Southwest Yosemite-Valley League title.
Palos Verdes and Newbury Park both finished 8-4 overall last year. Bakersfield Christian wound up 7-5.
