By Ed Piper
"The Diehl Show"--quarterback Jackson and receiver/defensive back Carson--came to the rescue for the La Jolla Vikings when visiting Central still threatened in the second half Fri., Nov. 10.
Elder brother, a senior, found his younger brother, a sophomore, streaking toward the end zone with six minutes left, the home team up only 21-14 in the CIF Division 2 quarterfinal game, for a 27-yard touchdown pass.
It was just like the boys were back in the yard, playing catch in the good old days. They communicate in ways that no one else perceives or understands.
Coach Tyler Roach's squad held on to win, 28-22, as a persistent Spartan squad, traveling all the way from their home base in El Centro two hours away, refused to yell "Uncle" before the end.
Before the Jackson-Carson connection, big brother broke a stunning 14-14 tie with his own 12-yard keeper into the same end zone for the 21-14 advantage. That was the last play of the third quarter.
Nobody in the past several weeks has been tied with the La Jolla juggernaut that late in the game. But Central wasn't kidding. Coach David Pena's crew came all that distance to play for keeps. Smaller and coming in the underdog, the Spartans still carried the Imperial Valley League title (4-0) and had beaten Eastlake a week earlier in the first round of the playoffs, 14-13.
In fact, in the scary last moments of the game, with the visitors still in the game, their two-point conversion by Nico Viesca after his own TD run to make it 28-22, 1:15 left, made you think of that squeaker over Eastlake. Was it going to happen again?
The Vikings, barely challenged in the second half during most of the Eastern League schedule, in which they cleaned up with a 5-0 record, showed they can take a punch late in the game and fight back. No one panicked, but they weren't given any gifts.
It looked like they were going to run away with the game in the first quarter. Aidan "Carolina" McGill quickly scored on a 13-yard run after Jackson's 41-yard scamper on the opening play from scrimmage.
La Jolla followed right up with another drive two possessions later, but Jackson, of all people, committed the rare fumble and gave the ball away.
He atoned for his turnover with a 69-yard classic, in which he headed for the left, then circled to come around and head up the left sideline to score untouched. That was the second-to-last play of the first quarter, and the hosts seemed to be running away with the game--as they have so many this season--with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
The winning performance was, by no means, a two-man effort. Plenty of others got into the act, including the defense (in addition, Carson had his seventh interception on a leaping snag). But QB Jackson is definitely the power source for all that creativity and production.
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