While riding in R.J. Walker’s silver Toyota Tacoma to Santa Fe Christian High School on game days, Hank “Henry” Ontiveros and Reece Walker, R.J.’s younger brother, always blasted the same song — “Ballroom Blitz” by the British glam rock band Sweet. 

The trio’s choice is fitting considering Ontiveros’ range on the lacrosse field. He’s a throwback. Last season during The College of Idaho’s undefeated run to the MCLA Division II semifinals, he tallied 37 goals and 28 assists for the Yotes. He also won 231 of 271 faceoffs. That’s 85.2%. 

“When he does lose you don’t really expect it,” Yotes coach Matt Gier said. 

While Ontiveros earned first team All-America honors as a faceoff specialist, that designation seems like a misnomer. He defies the convention that if you faceoff, you must specialize at the craft. Last spring, he was a two-way middie while dominating at the X. In other words, he’s the anti-FOGO and doesn’t fit neatly into an acronym. He called his role “eclectic.”

Growing up in Carlsbad, Calif., Ontiveros spent more time on the turf than in the surf. He said he’s played lacrosse “pretty much since I could walk.” Little surprise, he looked up to Trevor Baptiste while he rewrote the record books for faceoffs at Denver. But Ontiveros has never felt the need to limit his ambitions or his lacrosse idols. He was also a big Virginia fan and modeled his game after Tewaaraton winner Steele Stanwick. Ontiveros studied Stanwick’s quick release, his textbook one-handed cradle and the way he quarterbacked the Cavs to a national championship in 2011. 

Ontiveros played every position besides goalie for the Pythons in the Adrenaline Youth League. There were stints at defense. Then midfield. In his junior year at Sante Fe Christian, he was the only natural lefty on the team, so Tom Demaio, the director of lacrosse, placed him at attack. In Ontiveros’ first game at the position, he had nine points. He won most of the faceoffs, too.

“He never came off the field,” Reece Walker said.

Ontiveros finished his career as the Eagles’ all-time leading scorer. 

Shortly after Ontiveros’ first game at attack, Wagner College came calling. It was his first Division I offer. He jumped right on it. 

In his freshman season at Wagner, Ontiveros won 56 of 131 faceoffs as the primary specialist. The Seahawks went 4-10. In the fall after head coach Matt Poskay resigned, Ontiveros mentioned to Reece Walker over the phone that he was considering a change.

There were a lot of things Ontiveros said factored into his choice to enroll at The College of Idaho, which he emphasized was a completely different decision than to leave Wagner. 

At C of I, the state’s oldest private liberal arts college with an enrollment around 1,000 students, Ontiveros learned there was an opportunity to have more of a leadership role. There was the ability to be closer to home (it’s a 14-hour drive, but still). There was the Peak Program — the school’s distinctive curriculum consisting of four academic peaks (one major, three minors) and allowed students to explore several areas of interest. There was great skiing at Bogus Basin, less than an hour away. Plus, there were two of Ontiveros’ best friends.

R.J. Walker is a senior attackman. Reece is a junior long stick middie. Both brothers also play football for the Yotes. 

“Getting the vibe from all these different people that wanted me here and wanted me to be a part of something special is what really drew me,” Ontiveros said. 

Last January, he moved into the house the Walkers share two miles off campus with Reece’s two-year-old Corgi mutt, Skittles. 

“He's a pretty good roommate,” Reece Walker said of Ontiveros, not Skittles. “But we don't see him too often during school. If he's not working on his school work, he's working on new lacrosse plays.” 

The three still listen to “Ballroom Blitz” before games. 

“It was the perfect storm,” Gier said, referencing what led Ontiveros to Caldwell, which is about 25 miles outside of Boise. 

The College of Idaho’s opponents probably felt like they were hit by a blizzard. During the Yotes’ first game against Gonzaga, it took Ontiveros seven seconds to score the first goal.

“Oh ... okay,” Gier thought.

He knew Ontiveros would be good, but quickly realized he was a game-changer. Ontiveros won each of the 17 faceoffs he took and finished with three goals and three assists. Montana State got a reprieve. Its game against C of I on March 2 was canceled due to snow. 

The Yotes won their first four games by a combined margin of 102-22. That is not a misprint. They finished the regular season 10-0 — during which Ontiveros lost only 11 faceoffs — then won their second consecutive Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League championship. Gier, a 2007 alum, earned his fifth PNCLL Division II coach of the year award. 

“Our expectations have changed over the last four years,” Gier said.  

But the national championships are a different challenge. You have to win four games in six days against the toughest competition you’ll see all season. The Yotes made it through two rounds in Salt Lake City but fell to St. Thomas, 18-7, in the semifinals. Ontiveros won 12 of 22 faceoffs against the Tommies. 

“By Game 3, we were pretty physically beaten down because I think we emptied the tank on the first two,” he said. “From that experience, I think we're a more mature team this year, and we have a better idea of what it will take to make that next step.”

Gier also realized Ontiveros’s proficiency at the X made the Yotes complacent at times. 

“Last year we just got really content winning a lot of faceoffs and him going 110 percent the entire game,” Gier said. “We don't want that to take a toll on the postseason.”

To address that concern, Ontiveros will move down to attack after he faces off like he did in high school. Gier will also watch his minutes more closely and better utilize their “phenomenal crew” of faceoff guys. 

While hashing out these plans during a meeting in Gier’s office in Hendren Hall after the season concluded, he informed Ontiveros about a growing number of inquiries from coaches in the area as word of the Yotes’ star transfer spread.

“Are you guys going to offer any clinics?” they asked. “What about private lessons?”

That’s when Ontiveros told him about his dream. 

He already had a name: Full Tilt Lacrosse. There was a logo, too. During the past couple summers, Ontiveros helped train the faceoff specialists from Sante Fe Christian. Why not bring that experience to Treasure Valley?

“The idea came from seeing a community here that is hungry for expanding this sport,” Ontiveros said.

The business administration major has big plans. He’s already developed a full curriculum and camp schedule with Gier. Ontiveros wants to foster talent that will eventually compete with other hotspots on the West Coast. Perhaps one day you’ll see high profile commits from Idaho as regularly as Southern California or Colorado. 

Though still in an “introductory phase,” Ontiveros has already had some individual training sessions and plans to host the first Full Tilt faceoff clinic this spring. 

But before he can help the next wave of talent out West or reshape the lacrosse landscape, there are more immediate ambitions. 

The Yotes were the unanimous preseason pick to win the PNCLL-II, and they're ranked third in the Nike/US Lacrosse MCLA Division II Preseason Top 20.

“I don't think stats from last year mean anything,” Ontiveros said. “I think it's about this team this year and what we want to accomplish. The biggest thing I bring is keeping our guys focused on a national championship, which is obviously the No. 1 goal.”

Last year is in the rearview mirror.