The St. Joseph Knights were down 24-30. Only seconds remained. But in his typical fashion, quarterback Chase Artopoeus (pictured, No. 9) remained calm and helped his team gain 82 yards in less than 50 seconds.
The Knights beat out Bakersfield Garces Memorial High School with a tie-breaking kick on Aug. 31, and head football coach Pepe Villasenor said the win wouldn’t have been possible without Artopoeus’ renowned focus and determination.
“I’m most impressed with his composure,” Villasenor said. “He never gets too high, he never gets too low.”
Artopoeus, a senior at St. Joseph High School, led his team to win its first three games this season. He becomes a better player with each and every practice, Villasenor said, and with an above 4.0 grade point average, several ivy leagues are showing considerable interest in Artopoeus’ game.
“He’s an incredible student athlete,” Villasenor said.
This article appears in Sep 13-20, 2018.