Athlete of the Week: Serra’s Joey Villaroman

The battle-weary Villaroman hung his head to the backdrop of St. John Bosco’s state championship celebration, looking as demoralized as the final score might indicate. But Serra junior Joseph Bey seized the moment to run over to greet his teammate with a hug that encapsulated the true brotherhood the Padres achieved this season, and everything Villaroman — the Daily Journal Athlete of the Week — has done to stay on the field to be a part of it.

“He’s a fighter,” Bey said. “He’s had two ACL tears and he’s back out here playing in the highest stage of high school football.”

This year marked Serra’s second trip to that stage. Last year, the Padres fell to Mater Dei 44-7. Villaroman wasn’t in uniform for that game, coming off his second knee surgery in two years that cost him most of his junior season.

There was a point Saturday where it seemed Villaroman’s injury history would repeat itself. Bosco was battering the Padres’ offense with abandon, outgaining them 336-271 in total yards, including 229-97 in the first half. But Villaroman wasn’t about to add injury to insult.

Serra only took one shot at the end zone all night. It came in the closing seconds of the first half with the Padres trailing 35-0, as Villaroman ran a fade route up the sideline in tight man coverage. Villaroman’s attempt to get a step on his defender caused him to plant his right leg awkwardly — a leg already secured by a knee brace necessitated by his two previous high school injuries — as the senior felt a familiar tweak to his meniscus.

It hurt. A lot. That much was noticeable as he walked back to the huddle in discomfort, pleading with the sideline to not send in a replacement as he limped back to the huddle.

“They didn’t really want me to go back in,” Villaroman said. “But I just — I couldn’t walk off the field again like that.”

The receiver toughed out the next play when quarterback Maealiuaki Smith misfired for one of three interceptions on the night. Despite the turnovers, Smith would go on to build a solid passing line. The junior was 29-of-51 passing for 220 yards.

Senior receiver Jayden Weber led the Padres with 10 catches for 93 yards, and senior receiver Grant McGovern added seven catches for 72. But it was Villaroman’s seven catches for 52 yards that resonated the loudest.

“He’s meant everything,” Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said. “He’s been a captain to us, he’s our alpha male guy we followed all the time. His ups and downs, his moods carried the team. I was really, really proud to see him grow throughout his career at Serra. And he’s going to leave on top as one of the great captains we’ve ever had.”

Villaroman personifies the Serra brotherhood quite literally as the third of his brothers to make his mark on the school’s storied history of athletics. His oldest brother Tyler was a baseball standout for the Padres and went on a solid collegiate career at University of San Francisco. His other brother Shane made his mark on the gridiron, playing for Serra’s 2017 Division 2-AA state championship team, breaking Lynn Swann’s program record for most career receptions, while also setting records for single-season and career receiving yards that were broken two years after he graduated by Terence Loville.

The youngest Villaroman was in line to make a similar impact. Then came the knee injuries. He tore his ACL his sophomore year, requiring surgery. He returned as a junior and two games into his first varsity season, he tore the same ACL again, leading to a second surgery.

This year marked Villaroman’s first full varsity campaign. He wasn’t supposed to start the season with the team, but he did, overachieving against his doctors’ timeline for return, initially set for Sept. 30 in Serra’s second West Catholic Athletic League game against Mitty. By the time that game rolled around, Villaroman had already totaled 11 catches over the first four weeks, having debuted in the Padres’ season opener at Folsom.

“I wasn’t supposed to be cleared until the second game of league, but I made it a point that I needed to be back and be ready for my team,” Villaroman said.

As one of many weapons in the Padres’ passing arsenal, Villaroman ranked second on the team with 39 catches, 10 for touchdowns, and 502 yards, going past the 500-yard mark on the season line on the penultimate play of Saturday’s game with a 15-yard reception to advance to the St. John Bosco 12-yard.

It was the final catch of his career.

The game’s final play wasn’t the touchdown Serra was hoping for. Smith’s pass slipped through Villaroman’s fingertips, which wouldn’t have mattered as he was still seven yards shy of the end zone with Bosco not having yielded as many yards after a catch all night.

Instead of a touchdown celebration, Villaroman settled for a consoling hug from Bey, who honored Villaroman’s perseverance through Saturday’s career finale, nonetheless.

“'You bought out today, you gave it your all,’” Bey said as he hugged his Serra brother. “'I love you, man. I’m going to do it for you next year.’”