LJ FB: A closer look

Sophomore Nico Bardaro takes a Hudson Smith

pass 23 yards to a first down with 7:02 left

in the third quarter. La Jolla went on to score

on the drive with a one-inch plunge by

Hank Hansen to take a 21-7 lead.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Rick Smith, San Diego high school sports historian, supplied some info we didn't have before: La Jolla last played Torrey Pines in football in 1992 in the regular season. On that occasion, the Falcons whipped the Vikings, 35-0.

But fast-forward. In the Vikings' 21-14 win 32 years later, on Aug. 30, 2024, Hank Hansen broke up the scoreless duel midway through the second quarter with a spectacular 96-yard run to pay dirt.

Coach Scott Ashby's Birds--despite home banners reading "No Fly Zone"--came right back on the next drive with a successful 76-yard push, the score coming on a one-yard plunge by Ryder Young, to tie the game before a large crowd, 7-7.

La Jolla coach Tyler Roach's offense wasn't content to let things sit that way until halftime, employing a trick play--a flea-flicker--in which quarterback Hudson Smith fired to Hansen on the far left sideline, then Hank nailed Dre McLees-Walker with a pass from the Viking 33, and McLees-Walker, wide open on the surprise play behind the Torrey secondary, did the rest for a 13-7 lead. The point-after was blocked.

At halftime, everybody on both sides was looking at each other, like, "Can you believe this score so far?" Torrey Pines, coming in, would have had to be heavily favored, considering the status of the program and La Jolla's upstart status.

Roach, in his pregame talk with his team, addressed this very issue, saying, "I don't care if they bring in 30 busloads of players," La Jolla was going to seek to do business on its terms.

In the third quarter, Hansen, becoming a prolific scoring device, carried over from the one-inch line after a drive from the La Jolla 45, making the advantage 19-7. Roach, viewing the blocked PAT, didn't want to leave that as a lingering issue, so the Vikings went for two points after the TD, Smith completing to Carson Diehl. Diehl, an All-CIF selection as a sophomore last year, was heavily covered the whole evening.

Falcon QB Reece Morgan, not giving up the whole night, carried in from nine yards out on the ensuing drive, with 2:26 remaining in the quarter, and that's the way the final score held up.