Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Unionville’s Zubillaga a favorite for MVP
Unionville hoping to open space for athletic Zubillaga in any way possible
The one-platoon system was phased out of professional football in the 1940s, it’s been gone at the college level for more than a half century, and high school programs aspire to having the depth in order to avoid two-way starters.
But the game continues to evolve, and now we see more of a premium placed on versatility. Coaches want their best athletes on the field and, preferably, with the ball in their hands, regardless of position.
“The game of football is heading this way, where at every level you take your best guy and you do things with him that will hopefully give your opponents fits,” said Unionville head coach Pat Clark.
It’s a subject that is front and center for Clark because he has Joe Zubillaga. At 6-foot1, 205 pounds, the senior is so versatile he could play just about any position on the field.
That’s why Zubillaga is one of the preseason MVP favorites in the Ches-Mont league. The Indians open the season Friday at Spring-Ford, which is ranked 10th in this week’s Pa. Prep Live Top 20.
“When you look for somebody to build a football team around, Joe offers a lot,” Clark said.
A three-year starter at safety for the Indians, Zubillaga has also played a lot at outside linebacker, and that’s where he is projected to play at the college level. On offense, he’s seen time at just about every skilled position including quarterback, running back and receiver.
“He is very athletic and he’s super competitive,” said Clark, who called Zubillaga the best all-around athlete at Unionville.
“We certainly have a number of talented athletes, but I’m not sure we have another kid that competes in three sports as well as he does.”
Also a varsity starter in basketball and baseball, Zubillaga is best known for football. The only place he hasn’t played at Unionville is along the interior lines, even though he would undoubtedly make an excellent end. And even though he would certainly be a bit undersized as a tackle, he has the strength and the competitive nature to make it work.
“Wherever my team needs me this season, I feel like I can help contribute, no matter what the position is,” Zubillaga said.
Last fall, Zubillaga opened the season as a safety/receiver, but injuries to quarterbacks Drew Lenkaitis and Alex Gorgone turned his season upside down. In a marquee league clash in midSeptember against archrival West Chester Rustin, Zubillaga was thrown in as the emergency quarterback and led the Indians to a 14-0 triumph. Unionville went on to go 6-0 and capture the ChesMont American crown.
“When Alex went down in that game, and I just stepped in,” Zubillaga recalled. “As an athlete you just have to trust your instincts and do what’s best for the team.”
As the third-string QB, Zubillaga got a few snaps in during each practice, but he certainly hadn’t mastered the entire playbook. That changed quickly following the Rustin contest.
“We had to get him through the Rustin game and then we were able to expand the playbook with him after that,” Clark said.
“We had to change the offense a lot because my style was different,” Zubillaga added. “I am more of a runner, so we kind of reached back into the playbook to some old plays we used to run back in the day when we had running quarterbacks like Brendan Boyle and Tom Pancoast.”
Gorgone is back and healthy for 2017. That means that Zubillaga can return to his multifaceted role as a receiver with running back skills. Don’t be surprised, however, if he winds up throwing the football a few times. “You never know,” he said. “He runs it well, he throws it well, catches the ball and he is tough to tackle,” Clark said. “I don’t think we are any different than any other high school program where we want our best kid to touch the football 15-20 times a game.
“And people kind of overlook Joe as a defensive player because he stepped in at quarterback, but he is great on that side of the ball too. He’s got good vision in the secondary and he is tough enough to play outside linebacker.”
The youngest of five siblings, Zugillaga grew up not far from Unionville in an athletic family. He has two older sisters who are currently playing Division I lacrosse: Jillian is a rising senior starter at Oregon and Olivia started seven games last season as a freshman at Longwood (Virginia).
“I grew up always seeing that kind of drive and competitiveness around the house,” Zubillaga said.
“He comes from a family where they’ve had success, and I know his family keeps him kind of grounded,” Clark added.
Zubillaga often ‘played-up’ during his high school career. He was a linebacker as a ninth grader on the junior varsity team and the starting safety a year later with the varsity. And on the rare occasion he competed against kids his own age, Zubillaga flourished.
“When Joe played freshman basketball, that’s where I really got a glimpse of his tenacity and ferociousness,” said Clark, who also coaches Unionville’s ninth grade hoops team. “When he was among his own-age peers he was dominant.”
An excellent student, Zubillaga is being recruited by Ivy and Patriot league programs, like Cornell, Yale, Lehigh and Bucknell. Cornell has already made an offer.
“I kind of see myself as an outside linebacker at the next level, but who knows?” said Zubillaga, who is interested in engineering or architecture. “I could end up anywhere on defense or offense, especially how the game is evolving.”