Aircraft Charter Solutions PoW - Jacob Rozar
Aircraft Charter Solutions PoW - Jacob Rozar
Rozar is a defensive leader for HTH/PL, but he can run with the ball, too. Photo courtesy HTH/Pt. Loma rugby.
When David Barnes, the Head Coach at High Tech High/Point Loma, started describing the play of his open side flanker, he used a lot of complimentary words, but he avoided one commonly used by coaches - heart. That would have been too much of a pun.
Jacob Rozar has been all over the field for HTH/PL this season and a big part of why they lead the San Diego Conference in SoCal’s Varsity White Division. The small, scrappy flanker is a dynamo on defense, dominating the tackling stats. And, he does have heart, because he plays hard, loves the game, and spent a good chunk of his young life battling a heart condition.
Rozar was born with an enlarged heart - two to three times the normal size - and two holes in his heart, as well. Surgeries were needed to patch those holes, and fix a valve. All those happened when he was between three and seven years old, but just last year he underwent surgery to repair some of the previous surgery work.
He’s cleared to play rugby, and boy does he play rugby.
“He’s a smart player and a very good runner of the ball,” said Barnes. “But the big thing for us is his ability to make a tackle, get up, and make the next tackle, phase after phase. His tackling has allowed our defensive line to stay constant and for us to keep our shape.
“Our defense as a team has been extremely good this season,” Rozar told Goff Rugby Report. “We come up really flat together we keep our line. We keep the offense at that gain line, no further.”
The HTH/Pt. Loma team has added a lot of new players with little rugby experience, and so defense is something everyone can get up to speed on quickly.
“We’re a bit of both in terms of defensive control and aggressive,”” added Rozar. “But we’re more aggression. Early on we’d have guys who would shoot forward too fast. The veterans would say, it’s good you’re fired up, but dial it back or you can create pockets that the offense can take advantage of.”
Meanwhile, Rozar is one who can read the game well enough to pick his spots.
“Rugby is the #1 sport for me,” he said. “And I love being a flanker. I’ve been playing since sophomore year and flanker is how I love to play. I am small but stocky and I’ve got quickness and I like to hit hard. It fits.”
Rozar is set to graduate this year and will study business in college. A product of the San Diego Young Aztecs youth program, which he still plays for in the spring, he hopes to continue to have rugby a part of his live … or in his heart.
Jacob Rozar is our Aircraft Charter Solutions Player of the Week.
