It was good to have Diego Solis snag a 46-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Stratton in the third quarter in La Jolla's 35-12 win over Morse at Homecoming Fri., Oct. 11. I didn't see Diego's catch--I was gone by then--but the last time I saw him play at full strength was a month prior.
The versatile receiver/defensive back/quarterback/running back finished with 91 yards receiving against the visiting Tigers.
He last was creating havoc and being a playmaker (with me spectating) in week four in the home loss to Del Norte. He sustained an injury in that game, according to his father, and saw limited duty the following week in a loss at Scripps Ranch. Week six was a bye week for Coach Tyler Roach's squad, and I was out of town for the next week's game at Mira Mesa.
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As Jackson Stratton continues to develop at quarterback, Roach shows support and a lot of patience. Michael Cunningham, Morse's quarterback, commented before the game, "He can throw it." He was complimentary in pregame comments as I chatted with him and other Tigers players, who had played powerhouse St. Augustine the week before, suffered a 50-0 loss, and saw six players injured who were not able to play against La Jolla.
The Vikings played well, but Morse was missing its first-string running back, Jaycob Hicks, and it showed. Junior Kahlen Sablan was moved into that role, but was not able to carve out the real estate that Hicks has in 66 carries (412 yards--Cunningham had 822 before the La Jolla game).
Cunningham had to carry a lot of the running load, which makes up almost all of the Tigers' offensive attack. When Cunningham did throw, he had a decent spiral but no direction or touch--or confidence. One attempt was thrown too low. Another just showed tentativeness.
Cunningham had to carry a lot of the running load, which makes up almost all of the Tigers' offensive attack. When Cunningham did throw, he had a decent spiral but no direction or touch--or confidence. One attempt was thrown too low. Another just showed tentativeness.
Of course, the same multiple-back ground attack buried La Jolla last year on Morse's home field. It looked like that was going to be repeated this year when Cunningham led his team down the field to a score in the opening drive, which consisted of 14 plays and covered 65 yards.
Once La Jolla made adjustments on defense and started to get the hang of it on offense, a sideline observer commented, "Morse doesn't have the kind of offense that can make up a lot of points in a short amount of time." That proved to be true. By then, Jack Wiese, Dirk Germon, Max Smith et al had begun to stymie Cunningham and the other Morse ball-carriers.
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