FRUITPORT – Going all the way back to elementary school, Fruitport’s Jorge Burgos-Yack has been making moves with soccer balls that other kids conly dream of.
He was only nine when he was first noticed by Fruitport head varsity coach Dan Hazekamp.
“We were having tryouts for my son’s team that I coached,” Hazekamp said. “Low and behold, Jorge shows up and is doing rainbow kicks and complex stuff. He was just playing with a certain level of confidence. I walked over to him and told him I was really impressed. He was kind of like ‘Really? You think so?’”
By the time Burgos-Yack reached high school, Hazekamp was certain that he was going to be a special player who would put a lot of points on the scoreboard.
The coach was correct in that assessment.
[1]As a freshman on the varsity squad, he led the team with 10 assists, despite the fact that he wasn’t a starter at the beginning of the season.
“It was very impressive,” Hazekamp said. “He was basically on a team filled with veterans at that point. To have that vision back then and find his teammates is pretty remarkable. He’s a special kid and a special talent. The sky is the limit for him.”
Last year, as a sophomore, Burgos-Yack really started turning on the jets. It began in the fifth game of the season, when he broke through and scored six goals in one game against Whitehall.
By the end of the year he had 19 goals and eight assists and helped the Trojans make a run through the state tournament to the regional finals – which are also the state quarterfinals – before being eliminated.
[2]This year Burgos-Yack, a diminutive 5-foot-3 junior, has teamed with Isaac VanderMolen, a giant 6-foot-5 senior, to provide the Trojans with a big chunk of goals in a very special season.
He leads the team with 19 goals and has eight assists, which helped Fruitport win the O-K Silver conference championship and a second straight Division 2 district title. The Trojans are a nearly-perfect 19-0-1 and are ranked No. 1 in the state heading into Tuesday night’s first round Division 2 regional matchup against Marquette at Gaylord High School.
Burgos-Yack has been particularly hot lately, since all the tournament games have started.
He scored twice in Fruitport’s first O-K Silver conference tournament game against Hopkins, then once in the semifinals against Godwin Heights and once more in the championship game against Calvin Christian.
[3]
Last week in Division 2 districts, he scored once in a 2-1 victory over Spring Lake, and once more in Thursday’s 4-1 championship game win over Reeths-Puffer.
The goal against Spring Lake, one week ago, was huge. The Trojans trailed the rival Lakers 1-0 at halftime, which was worrisome. Spring Lake was the team that ruined Fruitport’s perfect record with a 1-1 tie a few weeks ago, and a loss to the Lakers would have have ended the Trojans’ season far too early.
But VanderMolen tied the score with a goal in the second half, then Burgos-Yack iced the victory with a breakaway goal with about 22 minutes left on the clock.
“I was thinking I had to put it away,” Burgos-Yack said about the big goal. “The guys and I work too hard. We couldn’t let Spring Lake take us out.”
[4]
[5]
That sounds like star player stuff, and indeed it is, but in a good way.
Sometimes when kids start hearing how talented they are at a very young age, then have a lot of early success in high school, their heads swell and they lose track of the team concept.
That has never been the case with Burgos-Yack, according to Coach Hazekamp. He’s one talented kid on a team with a lot of them, and blends in very well.
“He’s never been that stats guy,” Hazekamp said. “His thing at the end of the day is to just win games. He wants to help the team. We’ve had games where we had him tucked back to help the defense. He doesn’t question it and just does what is asked. Talking to other coaches in the area, a lot of these guys have a ton of respect for Jorge and recognize the amount of talent he has and the player he is.”
[6]
[7]
“I get more enjoyment out of just playing a role in the buildup of a goal,” Burgos-Yack added. “It doesn’t matter to me whether I score or not.”
Fruitport is now back in familiar territory, with the rematch against Marquette on Tuesday in the first round of regionals. The Trojans beat Marquette 2-0 in the same situation last year.
A victory would send them to Saturday’s regional championship game in Cedar Springs, against Forest Hills Northern or Bay City John Glenn. That’s where Fruitport’s season ended last year with a 1-0 loss to eventual state champion Grand Rapids Christian.
Burgos-Yack and his teammates would love to get through regionals this time around, qualify for the state Final Four, and see what happens.
“The team and I have been talking about this since eighth grade,” he said. “I’m excited for this week, and we’ll try to get redemption after losing last year. We want to work hard till the very end and well see how far we can go.”
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]