By Ed Piper
Jackson Diehl, La Jolla's All-CIF Second Team quarterback, plans to "attend a major college and walk on", he told a reporter at the Viking basketball team's game at home Tuesday night, Feb. 6.
During warmups, the reporter approached Diehl, who was in the rebound line for his team in the Big Gym, and asked him, "Sorry I got here late. What are your plans for next year?"
Diehl smiled a little uncomfortably, as he has done before when singled out among his teammates, and replied, "I'm going to go to a big (or major) college and walk on."
He went toward the basket to get a rebound.
When he returned to the rebounding line on the left side of the basket near the gym entrance, he was asked further, "What schools are you thinking of?" He said, "SMU..." He named another school, or more than one, but he had turned his face toward the middle of the floor and the reporter couldn't hear him, and left it at that.
The 6'3" senior, in gaining CIF recognition behind only one other quarterback in San Diego County as the Second Team pick, completed 147 of 243 passes for 2,390 yards and 29 touchdowns, while running 156 times for 1,286 yards and 15 touchdowns, as Coach Tyler Roach's Vikings went 5-0 to win the Eastern League title in Fall 2023.
La Jolla reached the Division 2 title game against Del Norte.
Those totals amounted to 3,676 combined yards, for 44 touchdowns, numbers that no recent quarterback in La Jolla High history can even touch.
Diehl, certainly, is the well-known secret locally, after a phenomenal season in which he demonstrated his versatility, an accurate throwing arm, even on long throws, and a deer-like running ability to dodge and bypass tacklers--besides his selfless leadership ability without a big ego.
As one opposing coach commented pregame during the season, he and his team saw on video that the lanky QB was willing to put his head down and run between the tackles and take a hit. Diehl didn't just around outside to avoid contact.
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