Usai Carries A Load For Heavyweight CV 5-Foot-6 Running Back Gives Bears Lift

From the first day of practice, everyone expected tonight’s Greater Spokane League football game between Gonzaga Prep and Central Valley to have a major bearing on the playoff hopes.

However, no one expected CV to arrive as the unbeaten favorite with its 5-foot-6, 160-pound backup running back carrying the load as a replacement for his best friend.

But little Giorgio Usai has become a big story in the last five weeks, leading Class AAA in rushing and scoring and helping the sixth-ranked Bears became a dangerous offensive machine with the return to health of tailback Ricky Giampietri.

“In our family, size probably isn’t the main issue,” Giorgio’s mother Susan said. “For us, strength is how we’ve measured one another’s progress. When he won something at the national level, he pretty much defined himself for us.”

Though it may seem the Central Valley senior’s success came overnight, that is only true on the football field. As a junior, Usai, a 3.9 student, placed in the top 10 nationally last year in a DECA (Distributive Education Class of America) competition and in the spring of his sophomore year he set a national weight-lifting record.

It just took a little longer for Usai to have similar success in football.

Giampietri, Central Valley’s starting tailback, suffered a separated right shoulder in preseason drills. The Bears’ first two games were against Lewis and Clark and Mead, two of the teams expected to battle CV for the Greater Spokane League title.

Usai, whose final carry last season was in a junior varsity game, stepped in and shredded the LC defense for 285 yards, the third-best rushing game in league history, and he hasn’t quit running since.

“I know him probably better than anyone,” Giampietri said of his weight-lifting partner. “I wasn’t worried. I knew we were going to win those two games. I wanted to be part of it, I wanted to help our chances, but I knew what Giorgio was capable of. I knew he could get the job done. I didn’t want anyone else.”

Even though Giampietri returned, Usai, soft-spoken and modest, is still the guy, piling up 889 yards and 14 touchdowns, both state highs in Class AAA. Meanwhile, the Bears are ranked sixth in the state with a 5-0 record heading into tonight’s key game with Gonzaga Prep (3-1, 4-1) at 7:30 at Albi Stadium.

Usai admitted after his 466-pound dead lift as a 132-pound 15-year-old he considered giving up football to concentrate on weight lifting.

“It was in the back of my mind,” he said. “As soon as it came time for football, I had to be with these guys … I’m so attached to these guys.”

Usai started the first game of his junior year, rushing for 79 yards on 18 carries, because Giampietri had to play quarterback when R.J. DelMese was injured the week before. But after that Usai only had two carries for 25 yards.

After CV’s final game, a disappointing upset that cost the Bears a spot in the playoffs, coach Rick Giampietri, father of Ricky, asked Usai if he would like to play in the final junior varsity game. Of course, he said yes.

“On the first play he ran for an 80-yard touchdown,” coach Giampietri said. “It was the same play he scored a (71-yard) touchdown on the first play of this season.”

The father was devastated but the coach wasn’t worried about CV’s running attack when Ricky got hurt.

“We were more concerned with defense (Ricky is a free safety) because Giorgio was running extremely well in the preseason,” coach Giampetri said. “He’s become a lot better runner. He’s making good decisions. Should he have played more (last year)? Obvious he should have.”

“He did his best and waited for his opportunity,” Susan Usai said. “That’s not a bad approach to life in general. You never know when your time will come.”

After his 285-yard game, Usai seemed willing to give the job back to Giampietri if he was ready but Giampietri played sparingly in the game against Mead when Usai ran for another 150 yards. After that, the Bears weren’t about to move Usai and found other ways to use Giampietri.

“I think I’ll be lining up some at tailback,” said Giampietri, “but I’m an all-purpose guy now. I just want to be on the field… . I’ll play nose guard.”

Now all the hard work Ricky and Giorgio have put in together is paying off as they get to play together.

Other teammates who didn’t ride their bicycles with Ricky and Giorgio to Giorgio’s, the Usai family-owned gym, knew Usai was ready for his chance, even if they weren’t quite as confident as Giampietri.

“I knew he’d do all right,” CV center Mike VanHouten said. “That first game, when we saw what Giorgio could do, it was surprising. It showed everyone all that hard work in the offseason pays off.”

Getting to know Giorgio’s teammates in general and his classmates in particular has turned Susan into a rabid fan.

“I go because I love my kids and I love to see them doing things,” she said. “I think fathers go because they love football. I’m learning this year to have fun. The kids have been together since grade school. It’s fun to know half the team, it makes it real personal.”

Susan admits her knowledge of football is limited and watches her son with a unique perspective.

“I suppose most mothers feel this way, I don’t even know if the dads think about this, but I’m wanting him to get the ball but then I’m worried about what will happen to him when they all charge at him,” she said.

She appreciates the team aspect.

“Football has brought a degree of team work and satisfaction very different than weight lifting,” she said. “Football is much closer to his heart than I might have understood.

“The world isn’t run as much on competition as it is cooperation. On the surface, football appears to be competition but to be successful it takes cooperation. We told our kids you become a good competitor because of how you cooperate.”

The mother’s perspective, more than anything, might explain why Giorgio Usai takes his success in stride, no matter how many strides he takes on the football field.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Photos (1 color)