LJ FB 3, Lincoln 54 - 10/10

Taylor Jeffery (3) of La Jolla makes a good return

up the left sideline of the opening kick by Lincoln

Fri., Oct. 10.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In the eighth week of the 2025 season, La Jolla ran into a juggernaut, highly-ranked Lincoln High, in a non-league encounter at home Fri., Oct. 10.

The occasion was the first return to campus of former Viking head coach Jason Carter, who guides the Hornets as Associate Head Coach and who coached La Jolla for four seasons from 2012-2015.

In the first quarter, the Vikings (now 4-3) were able to present enough looks on offense to make the Hornets think a little, and slow them down before they got into a rhythm.

First, tight end/defensive end Nico Bardaro lined up at quarterback, and as Defensive Coordinator Randy Cowell commented before the game, there were some "packages" that head coach Tyler Roach had prepared for him. It was the first time this season Bardaro has started a game at the central position.

Another look, and one that, by now, Roach has used many times this season, featured freshman quarterback Ty Tortorice (replacing banged-up starting QB Huddy Smith) in a traditional formation in shotgun.

Thirdly, another setup that has become familiar--and even more productive--for La Jolla this season positioned sophomore Aiden Farrell carrying the ball at running back.

Carson Diehl (13) takes a pass reception from

Ty Tortorice 11 yards on second-and-20

to the Lincoln 21-yard line. Two plays later,

Julian Zavala kicked a 34-yard field goal

for a brief 3-0 lead at the end

of the first quarter.

Fleet receiver Carson Diehl once again lined up in the wildcat, taking snaps directly  from center. But Roach went to that only after trying the other alternatives.

At first, Bardaro's running, mixed with handoffs to Farrell, kept the game low-scoring. La Jolla eked out a 3-0 lead--the only  time the hosts would lead the whole evening--on a 34-yard field goal by Julian Zavala with a minute left in the first quarter.

But then shaky hands, and eroding confidence, seemed to hit the Vikings. That compounded the problems of Lincoln's onslaught, which included human but rather large people like guard Kiemon Green, weighing 320 pounds, and freshman Major Tala, 330 pounds.

Senior running back Junior Curtis began to get some room to stretch his legs, and first scored for the Hornets on a seven-yard plunge beginning the second quarter for a 6-3 Lincoln lead. That began the first of 54 unanswered points.

Curtis scored again two elapsed minutes later for a 12-3 advantage.

Then disaster struck the Vikings, when lineman Jamari Sherell picked up a loose ball coughed up by the La Jolla offense and ran it back 45 yards for the TD and an 18-3 lead. That came with 3:42 left in the half.