St. Bonaventure’s Tanner Souza a star in any galaxy
Don’t be deceived that Tanner Souza, at 5 feet 9, 160 pounds, looks like a pushover.
The Ventura St. Bonaventure football player doesn’t leave the field during big games. He plays cornerback, slot receiver, quarterback in a wildcat formation and returns punts and kickoffs. And if anyone needs a protector, Souza will gladly fill the role.
He has dabbled in boxing since the eighth grade. When he was at a movie theater and a couple of teenagers from Camarillo didn’t like him wearing a St. Bonaventure sweatshirt and decided to let him know it, Souza was ready.
“I didn’t get hurt,” he said.
He can go from being physical to being bookish in the blink of an eye.
He has a 4.0 grade-point average and is president of his local National Honor Society. He’s considering Princeton and Johns Hopkins as college choices, and then it’s on to medical school to become a doctor.
“I love helping people,” he said.
He also has the business sense of a Donald Trump in the making.
He goes on the Internet and purchases special mouthpieces in bulk at a discount, then sells them for a small profit. He’s also into recycling plastic bottles and using the redemption money to buy cleats and other football gear.
“He’s going to be a millionaire one way or another,” Coach Todd Therrien said.
Whether he becomes a businessman or doctor, Souza still has plenty of football left in him. The Seraphs (7-1) are facing their toughest game of the season Friday night against unbeaten Westlake Village Westlake (8-0), an opponent that hasn’t lost since the 2008 season.
Souza’s versatility is what St. Bonaventure relies on. He has three interceptions and scored touchdowns on an interception return, a punt return and four pass receptions. He also has thrown for a score.
“He’s Mr. Reliable,” Therrien said.
On offense, Souza has the speed and instincts to create big plays. On defense, he is expected to cover Westlake’s talented receiver Nelson Spruce. And Souza’s the leader that teammates listen to when the going gets tough.
“He can do everything and we make him do everything,” Therrien said.
Souza enjoys the challenge and the scrutiny of playing both ways during a game.
“It’s like a chess match,” he said. “I know what they’re doing because I understand.”
St. Bonaventure still is trying to overcome the weaknesses exposed in a 33-32 overtime loss to Westlake Village Oaks Christian in the second game of the season, when the Seraphs blew a 19-0 lead.
“We’re working on that,” Souza said. “We shot ourselves in the foot.”
Souza has learned to persevere, with boxing awakening him physically and mentally.
He said he tried boxing “because I wanted to do another sport and felt boxing got me in great shape and got my hands and feet a lot quicker.”
Boxing taught him how to hold his own against bigger foes.
When he sparred with former St. Bonaventure football teammates Dylan Davis and Logan Meyer, Souza observed, “They said I got a couple shots in.”
That’s what makes Souza so dangerous. He finds ways to inject himself in games through his athleticism, intelligence and grit.
twitter.com/LATSondheimer
