Darren Zary
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
The Saskatoon Hilltops have their own ‘Unicorn.”
His name is Isaiah Vallderruten.
While Vallderruten isn’t exactly young NFL star Travis (The Unicorn) Hunter, they do share something in common.
They both play two ways — wide receiver and defensive back — on the football field.
Hunter just happens to do it as a rookie in the National Football League with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Vallderruten, in his first and only season in the Prairie Football Conference, is one of three American imports on the Hilltops. He comes all the way from New Jersey.
Just like Hunter, Vallderruten plays some offence and plays some defence.
Is he trying to copy Travis Hunter or what?
Vallderruten laughs at the suggestion.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life — probably before Travis Hunter,” quips Vallderruten, whose Hilltops (5-2) host the Calgary Colts (2-5) on Sunday, 1 p.m. at Gordie Howe Sports Complex. It will wrap up their PFC regular season.
“Like, my whole life, I’ve played on both sides of the ball. It’s fun. I really love to do it.”
Indeed, Vallderruten gets the best of both worlds.
“The funnest part, actually,” he adds, “is competing on both sides. I’d be chirping the offence and also the defence, and it’s usually (against) players who play just one side so they’re not used to seeing that.”
Yep, they’re hearing it from both sides of Vallderruten’s mouth.
As a player, he’s also got length, speed and natural football instincts.
Vallderruten is truly the ‘X’ factor on the Toppers this season.
“That’s what impressed me with the film he sent me, that he was a two-way player,” says Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, adding that Vallderruten was still grasping and learning the Canadian game, the conceptual part of it with how big the field is, earlier this season.
“I think that’s been a bit of an issue with him defensively, but he likes when the lights turn on. He likes to be the big playmaker, and he’s energized to make plays. We’re certainly going to use him in all facets. We believe he’s got tremendous upside in making a lot of plays.”
It’s not that the Hilltops have used two-way players on a regular basis in the past. When asked for the latest example, coaches are stumped.
“There really hasn’t been a lot of that,” admits Sargeant. “We’ve had guys jump in (for short yardage or trick plays) at fullback and all that, but no, he’s truly a two-way kid. Once again, it’s circumstance.”
If all-star safety Dalton Urban hadn’t hurt himself at Rider camp, that wouldn’t be the case, he adds.
“Or we might look at (Vallderruten) at a corner (spot). It’s sort of what the roster presented us, too, and maximizing him. Offensively, we weren’t throwing the ball a lot the first couple of games, right? We were running a lot more heavy running, so how can we utilize him more than just being a blocker? That was part of my thinking to that.”
Receiver at heart
Vallderruten is thinking it’s been good so far.
He likes Saskatoon, likes the people, likes the football.
“They show the best hospitality to me and my roommate, (fellow American) David Collins. I never received that kind of hospitality before. It’s very nice.”
He had heard about the Canadian Junior Football League and, while doing his research, he looked into the Hilltops and reached out to coach Sargeant.
Vallderruten says he’s “a receiver at heart” but still loves playing safety.
“Safety position is very different here because the field is much wider,” he says. “I really have to maintain the whole field and make sure nobody gets behinds me.
“I do love the field, how wide it is, especially on offence. On defence, I’m still getting used to it, and used to the angles that I’ve got to take. But I do like it.
“The three downs? I’m still getting to used to it, because one penalty is, like, a drive-killer. In America, you can bounce back, but one holding penalty here can set us back and we have to punt the ball.”
Coaches share Vallderruten’s practice time
So how do the coaches decide how to divvy up Vallderruten’s time?
Do offensive co-ordinator Shane Reider and defensive co-ordinator Jeff Yausie flip a coin to see who gets to utilize Vallderruten more that week?
“We don’t fight after him,” chuckles Reider. “It’s just how we share him at practice. For example, Tuesday and Thursday this week, he does defence. Wednesday, Friday, he’s on offence. It’s depending on what the game plan is … (But) he’s been willing to do whatever is asked of him.”
Yausie says it’s an interesting dilemma.
On defence he can have an impact on 40 or 50 plays, Yausie argues.
“Offence, how many times is he going to get the ball? To me, it makes sense to play some defence. Losing (Urban) was huge for us this year. But we have a couple of young guys who are playing well and we’re getting guys in, and (Vallderruten) is able to do both.”
Both coaches agree that Vallderruten is easy to coach.
“He just wants to play; he wants to learn,” Reider says. “It was fun watching him early, because we’d run a corner pattern and you could see that he thought the field was supposed to end, not knowing how big the Canadian field was. And he’s almost trying to do a toe-tap too early. He’s really learned and adapted really well.”
“He’s got natural talent,” adds Yausie. “Obviously we watched film on him prior to this, and he’s very good at both positions. It’s challenging because we need time for systems and adjustments and that stuff. We’re also getting another player ready to play, too, so he’s fine with sharing. He’s an outstanding young man and a great athlete. I would say he’s intimidating in the middle of the field for us.”
Off the field, Vallderruten appears to be as nice as they come.
“He’s so easy-going,” stresses Yausie. “He doesn’t have an ounce of cockiness or anything of that in him. He just fits right in and he’s real quiet and respectful, a real fun kid to coach.”
A Unicorn of the Hilltop kind.
