Monroe’s Answer Man

Perhaps it is his love of puzzles that makes Vinny Walker of Monroe High one of the most potent running backs in the region.

Whether it’s a brain-tweaking algebra equation or a collapsed hole that he was supposed to run through, Walker wants to be the problem solver.

“I like things that make my brain think,” he said. “Because if I don’t feel my brain thinking, it’s not good for me.”

Luckily for Monroe, Walker seems to have all the answers. The 6-foot, 200-pound junior is leading the region’s City Section running backs with 747 yards in 104 carries. Walker is averaging 187 yards a game in an option offense and is coming off back-to-back games in which he rushed for more than 200 yards.

“So far everything is going good,” said Walker, who has led his team to a 4-0 start.

Quite an understatement considering the pieces missing from the Monroe puzzle since last season. The Vikings lost quarterback Aaron Arnold and top receiver Kenyatta Burris to graduation, and 1,300-yard rusher Jason Anderson, who transferred to Palmdale.

As if those losses weren’t enough, Monroe Coach Fred Cuccia, who has turned Monroe around in only two years, suffered a stroke in late July and will not return this season.

But Walker’s ability--enhanced by a massive offensive line that averages 295 pounds a man--seems to have plugged the holes that might otherwise have caused the Vikings to sink like an anchor.

“We wouldn’t be where we are now without him,” interim Coach Don Senegal said.

Without Anderson, who transferred to Palmdale to live with his mother, Walker has flourished despite his classmates’ remarks that Anderson “was the man” and Walker is simply the king of the three-yard run.

Obviously, his classmates know not of what they speak: Walker rushed for 874 yards in 141 carries last season for an average of 6.2 yards.

Still, the comments don’t sit well with Walker.

“I just want to get that monkey off my back because all everybody talks about is Jason [Anderson], Kenyatta [Burris] and Aaron [Arnold],” he said.

Strangely enough, Walker said he genuinely misses Anderson.

“I miss him a lot,” Walker said. “He’s a cool guy.”

The two former backfield mates speak often, including last Thursday, the day before Palmdale played Hart. “We just wished each other a good game,” Walker said.

Walker has been having good games since he first donned football pads for a youth team at the tender age of 8. He has always played running back, which is perhaps why he is so adept at getting through the slightest crease.

Just as he does on the football field, Walker makes the most of what’s in front of him, regardless of the setbacks.

“If [the hole] isn’t there you can just move out of the way and create your own hole, or you see a quick flash [of an opening] and take off,” Walker said. “It’s like a puzzle.”

Walker’s life also resembles a puzzle, with one of the main components missing--his father. Walker is the second of four children reared by his mother in Inglewood.

“Since he wasn’t around for a long time, I kind of got over it,” he said. “But it hurts.”

Walker is refreshingly charming, punctuating his comments to adults with “ma’am and sir.” He loves his Algebra II class and enjoys literature and history, and pays attention to what classes and grades he needs to get into college. He’s also a rarity: a teenager who is actually conscious of what he eats.

“I take care of my body. I drink a lot of fluids, I eat right,” he said. “I’m doing what it takes to keep my body going.”

Where Walker is going, time will tell. Will he get recruited by Notre Dame, his favorite college team? Will he lead the Vikings to their first City football title? Will his classmates continue to compare him unfavorably to Anderson?

These questions are sure to be addressed at some point. But for now, Walker seems to have the right idea.

“No pressure,” he said, smiling. “I’m just a junior, so I’m going to relax.”