By Ed Piper
La Jolla's football team, on a roll through their first three games in an abbreviated season, came back from a hiccup in the second quarter against Christian and put the host Patriots away in the third period, 37-7, Saturday evening, April 10, in a game played at Granite Hills High.
The Vikings, defending their Eastern League crown, overcame adversity by switching to weapons besides quarterback Jackson Stratton's aerial darts, employing kicker deluxe Devin Bale's expansive skills for back-to-back 36-yard field goals in the third quarter after a 23-yard rocket through the uprights in the second quarter. Even receiver Max Raulston got into the act, taking a Justin Scully pass 48 yards in the third period for yet another score.
After Stratton was ejected midway through the second quarter for unsportsmanlike conduct, there was momentary confusion on the La Jolla sideline. All-everything Diego Solis took some creative runs straight from the snap right after that, before JV quarterback Justin Scully got warmed up. Scully, a sophomore, eventually twirled the connector to Raulston after halftime.
The Vikings, leading 14-0 at the time of the ejection, struggled visibly to contain Christian's young attack--their own offense suffering a season-ending injury to senior quarterback Gabe Krug the week before--as the large Patriot crowd willed their team to a TD before halftime. The score then was 14-7, La Jolla.
La Jolla coach Tyler Roach and his squad regrouped at halftime, regaining their usual momentum in this COVID-shortened season, and quickly piled up points toward the 30-point margin. The win, making the Vikings 4-0 with one game remaining, secured their second straight league title, following the 2019 Eastern League crown and CIF San Diego Section Division 3 title, before dropping the state championship game at Escalon in Northern California.
Roach implored his troops, "I told you that you were going to face adversity. Well, here it is." The long, impassioned lecture yielded fruit, as La Jolla immediately regained the momentum in the third period. Bale blasted his first 36-yarder for three points for a 20-7 lead with 8:31 left in the quarter. The rout was on soon after that.
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