By Ed Piper
This spring will complete 20 years of my being around and/or covering La Jolla High sports (my granddaughter became a varsity cheerleader as a freshman in Aug. 2004).
Football has been one of the prominent sports at LJHS during that time, the last 11 years including a "restart" (after declining participation) by Jason Carter, a stabilizing year under Matt Morrison, then seven years of Coach Tyler Roach's further building of the program. There have been several highlights during the most recent period.
Imagine: I am not a football guy. I never played football, neither Pop Warner nor high school football.
But I have seen years that harken back to the "glory years" of 1991-1995, which I have since read about, under Coach Dick Huddleston, who is revered by those who speak of him. Every one of those five years, the Vikings won their league title. That is really impressive. (This was before CIF was split into many levels.)
From the beginning, Roach preached the reality that in his program, his best athletes would have to play both ways--on the offensive and the defensive platoons--for the team to have success. That has carried through. Carter started it, Tyler has continued it.
The highlights include:
--Linebacker Max Smith's incredible "interruption" of a hiked ball by Scripps Ranch from his position on the line on the far left, grabbing it in mid-air, giving La Jolla an opportunity to score in the last moments to come back. Scripps Coach Marlon Gardinera still says he doesn't utter Smith's name because of that play.
--Diego Solis' acrobatic ability to catch a pass or make another play that would influence the outcome of the game. He and his talented older brother, Gabe, were both named All-League First Team, which I didn't know until last week (sdcityconference.com). Both enrolled at the cerebral University of Chicago.
--Jackson Stratton, a classic drop-back passer with Southern California surfer long blond hair, piled up numbers never seen previously in my two decades covering the Vikings. He suffered a fractured right scapula running for extra yardage at Del Norte, ending La Jolla's dreams of a repeat of their 2017 league title and run to the Southern California Regional championship with Stratton at QB as a sophomore.
--Another QB named Jackson, this one Diehl, put together a phenomenal senior season in fall 2023 as a two-way threat throwing and running, leading Roach's boys to an Eastern League title and being named All-CIF Second Team (behind only one other quarterback).
--The beginning of the "Carson" phenomenon. Carson Diehl, a sophomore, led the county in interceptions with nine in 2023, and performed on the offensive side as well, as he and his brother connected backyard-style on key plays.
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