By Ed Piper
La Jolla Athletic Director Aaron Quesnell said it during the second half of the Vikings' solid 21-14 win over visiting Torrey Pines Fri., Aug. 30: "(Head coach) Tyler Roach has done a lot for this program."
La Jolla was in the midst of sticking the vaunted Falcon program with an upset pre-league loss that not too many people saw coming. Sure, PPR and KUSI Channel 9 had set up their broadcast booth at the south end of the field with Paul Rudi and company, and Roach got interviewed on the set at 5:40 p.m. in anticipation of the match-up of two programs that haven't played each other since about 1991.
But in the Vikes' garnering this convincing win against a school that regularly has student-athletes transfer in just to play in its sports program, where upwards of 40 players stood on the Torrey Pines sideline Friday night in reserve in case a starter went out--TPHS has big football, basketball, volleyball programs, and that's just on the boys' side--Roach has brought the La Jolla program back beyond respectability after two predecessors saved it from the brink of extinction a mere dozen years ago.
And viable it is.
Quarterback Hudson Smith and company swapped turnovers with the Falcons early in the contest, then settled down to take a commanding 21-7 lead midway through the third quarter when all-purpose Hank Hansen lined up at QB and plunged over from one inch out, 5:24 left in the period, just as he did the week before in a 37-21 win over Bishop's.
La Jolla's defense held senior quarterback Reece Morgan and his offense to one more touchdown the rest of the way. It was a night to celebrate a major milestone for a storied program that once played schools like Torrey Pines on a regular basis. We're talking the 1990's, from staff members' best recollections.
The Vikings won league championships in four of the five years from 1991-1995, and we're approaching that level again with the Eastern League title winners we've witnessed the last several seasons.
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