O-R Athlete of the Week: Carson Vanata, Mapletown
Name: Carson Vanata
Grade: Junior
School: Mapletown
Sport: Football
Vanata’s week: It is hard to imagine Vanata could have had a better final three plays than what transpired Friday night.
A successful throw on a halfback pass, a touchdown run with three seconds remaining and two-point conversion on a run that provided the game-winning points are what he accomplished in a 22-21 victory for Mapletown over Frazier.
Those plays were the cherry on top of a 161-yard performance on the ground with two touchdowns, which helped avenge a 36-0 loss to the Commodores a season ago.
“Honestly I just feel blessed,” Vanata said. “We have a much different team this year. Last year we had a lot of injuries and lost a lot of our upperclassmen. But we came back stronger, worked hard in the offseason and came back ready to win.”
The halfback pass: Needing a big play late, the Maples dug into their bag of tricks and Vanata delivered. After receiving a toss from quarterback Ashton Walker, he threw a perfect strike to Landon Johnson, which set up the Maples inside Frazier’s five-yard line.
“It’s kind of like a toss pass,” Vanata said. “We run a lot of sweeps and tosses, and I feel like we have the speed to get outside. That set up the toss pass. We had someone run a post and out. The slot (Johnson) dragged right into the end zone and I saw him instantly, so I just threw it right to him.”
The TD and two-point conversion: When the game was on the line, Vanata’s mentality was that he wanted the ball. He said he had that feeling where he was on a roll and felt he could do anything. That was the case on the three-yard plunge into the end zone with three seconds left on the clock. When Maples coach George Messich told the team they were going for two, he knew he wanted the ball again and delivered.
“The touchdown was a 26 Power, where we had our two bigger guys on the right side to block,” Vanata said. “The two-point conversion was kind of a misdirection with our wing. We normally stack our wing to the side we run to, but we decided to change it to the left side and still run a blast. I had a really good block from my fullback and just dove in there.”
The win was sweeter, because Vanata felt Frazier disrespected Mapletown before the game started.
“Honestly it felt super good,” Vanata said. “Before the game (Frazier) walked through our (inflatable) helmet that we run through when we come out. After that I just had this feeling that I wasn’t going to let that team come off our field with a win.”
Carrying on the family name: As Carson put it, having the Vanata last name means you play all the sports you can at Mapletown. There have been many Vanatas that have come through Mapletown over the years. Carson plays football, basketball and baseball for the Maples.
This year he gets to share the field with two stepbrothers, Ashton Walker and Landon Walker, and his biological brother Cayne.
“Ashton and I are in the backfield together and linebackers together,” Vanata said. “Landon is an offensive lineman that just stepped into the starting lineup for one of our guys that got injured. Cayne just started playing for the team.”
Compiled by Jerin Steele