By Ed Piper
For La Jolla High coach Tyler Roach, his offense under new quarterback Hudson Smith was humming at the high-frequency he wants to generate on three drives during Saturday's (Aug. 17) 38-14 scrimmage win over Chula Vista: right off the bat on their first possession, then after some delay and sputters, beginning the second half after regrouping and headed toward putting the Spartans away.
The Vikings aren't messing around when they go into their high-level spread up-tempo offense, and Coach Howard Bannister's defense wasn't ready. The opening drive took only 4:27: After an initial flag, Smith, the junior, dished to running back Aidan "Carolina" McGill for a 15-yard gain and first down.
Then Huddy zinged a pass on the right to Carson Diehl for eight yards, then another one to the All-CIF receiver/safety after a flag.
Senior Hank Hansen ran right; Kai Fukuda, yet another returning all-leaguer (including all of the forementioned) copped a zinger from Smitty down the opposite sideline, reaching the Spartan 12-yard line. Finally, "'Lina" (what his teammates call Aidan) ran it in for a 7-0 score, with Evan Figueiredo's kick. The possession took six plays, and was what Roach dreamed off, without the two flags.
After regrouping following Chula Vista's temporary 14-7 lead, then a 14-14 halftime tie, engineer Smith, throwing well and showing the promise of the last year he waited under now-departed QB Jackson Diehl, took part in seven plays on the first drive of the second half to hit pay dirt, 21-14. From then on, it was off to the races for La Jolla.
Hudson connected with Carson Diehl, now a junior, for 24 yards on second down. Hansen took a pass on the left and ran over a blocker to the ooh's of his teammates for 11 yards and first down. The other "Figgie", Alex, ran right. Kai made a reception when Smith, dealing, looked left, then threw right. "Figgie" carried again; Alex then ran in from 11 yards out for the TD on second-and-six.
The Spartans, missing a key player kicked out over two unsporstman-like calls, couldn't come back to score. La Jolla conjured the magic again, given a short field on the Chula Vista 45. Smith threw to tall sophomore Nico Bardaro, who starred this summer in 7-on-7, for a 35-yard gain.
Logan Clark, "Class of 2026", as Fukuda informed a reporter on the sidelines, rushed on first down. Nico, who dived to catch the earlier pass, took this one in standing, the Vikings now leading 28-14 with Alex Figueiredo's kick--on their way to running away with the contest.
The Viking defense had a few mix-ups and players out of position earlier in the game. But Chula Vista, which went to the 2A championship game last November, also has some key weapons in returning senior QB Izaac Baca, and senior twins and receivers Michael and Daniel Marquez.
Baca connected with receiver Elijah Gillespie for the lead, 14-7, back in the second quarter.
Finding out where you need to fix things is part of preseason scrimmages, and the second half showed La Jolla made necessary adjustments on defense as well as offense. New Defensive Coordinator Brandon Harrison, elevated when Ryan Price departed for Point Loma High, seems to be working well, with the support of savvy former NFL Saint Eric Burrell, the new safeties coach, and fellow new assistant Jordan Lawson, coaching the defensive line.
Granted, it was only a scrimmage. Place-kickers kicked, but there were no runbacks or kick coverage. Ditto on punts. But indications were good for Friday's (Aug. 23) season opener versus Bishop's.
No comments:
Post a Comment