By Ed Piper, Jr.
La Jolla football coach Matt Morrison said regarding his first game at the helm for the Vikings Aug. 26, "It was a fun night." The visitors drubbed host Montgomery, 43-0.
"We were far from perfect in terms of our execution, but I thought we played hard and played together, which is what you love to see as a coach," said the likeable elementary school teacher at Blessed Sacrament Parish School.
He pointed out, "We were sloppy." La Jolla was called for almost 130 yards in penalties, 100 in the first half, with three turnovers, and another fumble that the Vikings retained.
This won't work in the long run, said the coach: "In order to compete against the better teams in our league and our division, we cannot afford to make those kinds of mistakes going forward."
Seeing contributions from the offense, defense, as well as special teams, Morrison confessed, "The most exciting thing about the game from my perspective was how all three phases of the game came together to help us win.
"We have put a huge emphasis throughout the spring, summer, and fall camp on our belief that it takes all three phases to consistently win games."
La Jolla made key stops and plays by special teams to set up the offense to capitalize on those opportunities.
"We take tremendous pride in the amount of time that we put into game-planning and practicing for special teams," said the head coach. "We blocked two kicks, averaged nearly 20 yards per punt return, and caused a turnover on our punt team.
"If we dominate the kicking game like that every week, we are going to be in great shape."
Overall, the first-year coach commented, "We've certainly got a lot of things to correct and a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we're excited to be 1-0."
In week two, Hilltop should be much more of a test for the Vikings.
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