Brett Via

Patrick Laverty

Brett Favre has got nothing on Brett Via. The Green Bay Packers

quarterback may have started 198 consecutive games, but Via hasn’t

missed a Costa Mesa High football game since he was 11.

That night, with the Mustangs playing on Halloween, Via chose to

go trick or treating.

This year, Via played a trick on Estancia High one day prior to

Halloween.

Making his first start at inside linebacker this season, Via was

part of a dominating effort on the defensive side of the ball as the

Mustangs toppled Estancia, 41-0, for the third straight season.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior also contributed on the other side

of the ball, starting at tight end, catching one pass for 18 yards

and blocking for a rushing attack that gained 268 yards.

His efforts earned him Daily Pilot player of the week honors and

the fact that it came against Estancia, only made it sweeter for Via.

“[It means] a lot of respect,” Via said about the Battle for the

Bell. “I’ve played with a bunch of those guys. I grew up with most of

them. It’s nice to know that I beat them.”

He and the Mustangs did so thoroughly, and Via’s defensive play

was a big reason why, whether he was breaking through the line to

make a tackle in the backfield or laying out a receiver to cause an

incompletion.

On offense, he added his first carry of the season on a tight end

counter, gaining 11 yards.

It’s his play at tight end after starting at guard his sophomore

and junior seasons that has earned Via rave reviews. After once again

filling in on the offensive line because of an injury to Rodrigo

Gutierrez in the first two games this year, Via has been playing

tight end -- a suggestion he made to Costa Mesa Coach Dave Perkins

last spring -- since Week 3.

“I knew I could catch the ball,” Via said. “Plus, I knew we had

some guys like [junior left guard] Bryce Carich coming up, some good

young players.”

Via has shown he can catch the ball, providing a third target for

quarterback Bruce Wilkinson after receivers Jeff Waldron and Jorge

Quiroz.

“He’s not the fastest guy in America,” Perkins said. “But he gets

up the field and he’ll catch anything you throw up there.”

Via’s prominence in the Mustangs program is particularly sweet

considering he was a Costa Mesa water boy when he was 10 and 11 years

old and was a ball boy for five years.

He’s been involved with the program through the Myron Miller and

Jerry Howell’s stints with the Mustangs and now with Perkins as the

head coach.

“Just being that I’ve been part of the program for such a long

time and now playing in the program, it makes it really special,” Via

said.

Also special was his first start on defense this season. He had

rotated with fellow senior Luke Sapolu throughout the first seven

weeks, giving each of the two-way players some rest.

But Sapolu and Via both started against Estancia and will continue

to do so.

Via got word of his starting assignment on the Monday prior to the

Estancia game.

“I knew I would have a big game,” Via said. “I told myself I was

going to have a big game.”