Patrick Hall was displaced. That doesn't mean he was misplaced as a result.

Hall was the star running-back-in-waiting for this year's St. Bonaventure football team — until Darrell Scott transferred in from Moorpark High.

The end result, for Hall, was a season in which he became a defensive standout at outside linebacker.

It might not be the role he envisioned, but it's worked well for both him and the Seraphs.

"He may be the best blitzer on the team," says coach Todd Therrien "and he's one of the top cover guys. He had a pick against Santa Barbara, a pick against Oaks Christian. The Oaks Christian game was his coming-out party; he led the way with two or three takeaways in the first half.

"He was unbelievable."

In that game, Hall had 10 tackles, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Overall, he's fourth on the team in tackles with 85, 34 of them solo, along with two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks.

Hall readily admits he made the change reluctantly, and that it's worked out quite well.

"At first I didn't want to do it," he says, "but they put me at that position, so I wanted to get used to it — instead of fighting the coaches, have fun at the position. Making the plays I've made, I kind of don't regret coming to defense. I really don't miss offense."

From the outside, the need to move Hall may have seemed inevitable, but Therrien didn't treat it that way.

"What Patrick wanted from us," says the coach, "was to get a chance to compete against Darrell Scott. And he got a shot to compete against Darrell Scott, and you know what? Darrell won the job, but not by 10 yards. He won it by a neck."

Once that happened, it was not a foregone conclusion what Hall would do next.

"Patrick seemed too valuable in other spots for him to just be a rotating tailback or to put him at a receiver spot," says Therrien. That being the case — and Therrien being the defensive coordinator as well as the head coach — the coach knew where he wanted the 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior.

"Last year, I tried to keep pulling him to defense," says Therrien, "because I really saw the defensive side of him. But he really loves tailback and he was young, and he didn't really want to buy in all the way.

"As soon as he bought in and said, you know, I'm going to be a defensive player, he's been nails."

The transition really came after the season-opening win at Santa Margarita. In that game, Hall spent time at safety and running back. But that was also the game when the Seraphs lost Ryan Panapa to a knee injury, and after that, the course for Hall became clear.

"Coach put me at outside linebacker when Ryan got hurt so we could get more speed to the ball," says Hall, "and that's where I'm at."

Recalls Therrien: "I said, Patrick, this is where you need to be fulltime, and we'll get you some touches on offense.'

"Now, we haven't gotten him as many touches offensively as we'd like — some of that being Darrell, some of that being other weapons, and we're putting too many points up. It doesn't really look good — you take Darrell out, and here comes Patrick Hall. He's not really a second-team guy."

Still, Hall has managed 362 rushing yards in just 43 carries — an average of 8.4 yards per carry — and of his seven receptions (for 224 yards), four have been four touchdowns.

"It's scary when he goes in," says Therrien. "You don't know what's going to go on. We even mixed up he and Darrell playing fullback and tailback and blocking for each other, and they did a great job. Then you add K.C. (Serna, the quarterback) and it's a three-back offense."

Still, for all of that, Hall's impact in today's Division III bowl game at the Home Depot Center is likely to be on defense.

"Being on defense, it's made me seem like a tougher, more physical guy," he says, "instead of like a running back, where you run, dodge tackles and stuff. On defense, you just go to the ball and make a hit."

Hall still hopes his long-term future is in the offensive backfield, but he knows he's benefited from his defensive experience.

"I think it helped me a lot," he says of the versatility he's shown to potential college recruiters. "If it was really my choice, I'd probably want to play running back in college but I can see now that whatever position I can play to help the team is the position I would play."

That's the way it's worked out this year for Hall and the Seraphs — and they both have today's bowl game to show for it.

— Contact Star columnist David Lassen at dlassen@VenturaCountyStar.com.