When you’re a freshman you have no history to write about so everything is all about a player’s first season. With respect to Kai Hall of St. Vincent de Paul, what he did in his first year of high school football and the numbers he produced is nothing short of stunning.

Hall, a fleet-footed and elusive 5-8, 170-pound running back is a huge part of the reason the Mustangs went from 6-5 in the first year of Coach Trent Herzog to a No. 5 seed in the North Coast Section Division 7 playoffs and a 9-2 record this season after bowing out to No. 4 seed St. Helena.

For the season Hall, who clocked a pretty solid 4.68 electronic 40-yard dash verified at the Football Hall of Fame Showcase this past spring, rushed for 1,773 yards and 19 touchdowns, with him rushing for 100 yards or more in 10 of the team’s 11 games and with a per carry average of 9.7 yards. The rushing yardage was the top reported mark in California for freshmen and No. 3 in the nation and that is pretty amazing. Kai’s top game was in a 33-20 win over San Rafael where he rushed for 296 yards and three TDs on 31 carries.

As for records at St. Vincent de Paul, the rushing yardage is the top mark ever for a freshman and No. 2 all time in school history to the 1,898 yards of Kris Farinha in the 2009 season and in 13 games. Hall is well on his way to the career school record of Farinha of 3,827 yards.

Hall also had 13 pass receptions for 147 yards, had 97 yards on three kickoff returns, and Herzog didn’t use him very much on defense but in very limited action at linebacker he had a sack and two forced fumbles.

“Kai definitely exceeded expectations,” Herzog remarked. “We knew he was special but didn’t expect him to do what he did as a freshman.”

In a bit of a twist, Hall wins the same Prep2Prep NCS freshman award running back Ivan Robledo of St. Helena won last year, and ironically it was Robledo and the Saints that ended the Mustangs season this year. Although Hall rushed for 106 yards and a TD and had 20 yards receiving in a 44-22 loss, he got outgained by the 323 yards and four TDs of Robledo.

Now Hall has something to shoot for next season, but despite the loss that ended the season it was still all about the team.

“After the loss to St. Helena all the team talked about was how much we are going to miss the seniors and the game of football until next season,” Hall said. “The seniors were heartbroken because it high school football came to an end. I know how much that meant to them so it destroyed me to watch my brothers feel that.”

Herzog sees the potential for even bigger things for Hall.

“Kai’s best asset is his running ability. He has great vision, balance, agility, and is very explosive,” Herzog said. “He got better each week during our season and he needs to continue to become an overall great running back that can run the ball, catch the ball, protect the ball and block.”

Where does Kai think he needs improvement? “I think I need to work on holding the ball, catching the ball, and my agility.”

The Mustangs will be joining the North Bay League – Redwood Division next season and that is a factor in his goals. “My goals for next season are to ball out in the new league, make a statement and hold onto the ball.”

About the only negative was Hall did lose five fumbles but both he and Herzog acknowledge that as an area for improvement.

Hall lives in Santa Rosa and looked at other opportunities for high school but he and his family chose St. Vincent de Paul.

“St. Vincent is just a great school with a small school environment so I can get more one-on-one help in classes,” said the 3.0 GPA student athlete. “I know everyone at school and it just had a ‘homey’ feeling since my first day.”

How did his Mustangs teammates welcome him on that first day to start the school year?

“I can’t even begin on the love I have for my teammates,” Hall said. “They were all so welcoming and I knew this was a program I wanted to be a part of from the first day.”

Hall also has a quiet maturity about him, and he was also humble during the in person interview last week at school, so it’s not surprising to hear what Herzog had to say about that.

“Not only is Kai special on the field but off the field as well, and a total team player that gives his teammates tons of credit for his accomplishments,” Herzog said. “After he ran for 296 yards against San Rafael he bought the whole team cheeseburgers. What freshman even thinks of doing that and then actually does it.”

“Like I said he is extremely special,” said Herzog in conclusion. “Watch out for this kid. He’s only 14-years old but he’s going to do big things in life.”

Other players considered for this award include Pittsburg’s Rashid Williams, Cardinal Newman’s Santino Acevedo and Del Norte’s RJ Loftin.