LJ b water polo: A good mix going into league

By Ed Piper

Viking coach Tom Atwell has been going with a starting lineup of field players Dexter Black, Quinn Daniels, Lev Kevorkian, and Henry Glenister, all All-CIF performers from last year's Open Division champions, plus Jude Laifa and Barney Pearce (the latter a part of the rotation in 2025).

These, of course, are all backed by goalkeeper Addie Calhoun.

The mix of the six has played well through the preleague schedule, having no problems in the AFC Tournament at Coggan and Coronado over the weekend Sept. 18-19.

Laifa has been aggressive, and Pearce fits right into the role he played last year among Atwell's top handful of players.

The big stuff happens this week, with the Vikings traveling to Cathedral Catholic Wed., Sept. 23, to play the Dons, favored to win the Western League in some quarters.

One coach at the AFC Tourney Saturday told me, "Cathedral is going to take the Open Division, no doubt about it." He was a long-time coach, including 30 years coaching in club. He talked about Black being "the only D1 player in the pool" Saturday during La Jolla's game.

La Jolla, listed on MaxPreps as being 17-2, though it doesn't include all games in tournaments, has been playing excellent ball, with aggressive, denying defense.

LJ b beach VB: New pairs

By Ed Piper

On Thursday, Sept. 17, the Viking boys switched it up and played the host Torreys in all-new pairs.

I asked Myles Plaskonos, the assistant coach, why, and he said, "They (the players) wanted to play with new people."

So, in a radical experiment, early to midway through the short season, head coach Jared Voeller gave the go-ahead.

How that came out, I will have to wait to get results on Thursday and Friday, the latter date when the red-and-black played at Scripps Ranch.

The Viking roster is very new. Only a few of the team members are varsity returners. That is a rare thing in volleyball, where in beach volleyball at La Jolla freshmen become sophomores become juniors become seniors. The school has a strong indoor court and beach volleyball tradition, under Coach Dave Jones, more recently for the boys, and Coach Kelly Drobeck for the girls.

LJ FB: Try to stop Polamalu Fri., 9/25

By Ed Piper

With their new outlook after a big 26-0 win over La Jolla Country Day Sept. 11, the Vikings will try to meet a new challenge in the gigantic venue that St. Augustine plays in, Mesa College, this coming Friday, Sept. 25.

The defense will try to stop running back Paisios "Pai" Polamalu, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu--he of the Head and Shoulders commercials on TV--as well as deal with the younger Polamalu on offense, since he plays safety.

In last year's outing, La Jolla watching Pai run over, under, around, and through defenders as he piled up tons of yardage and led St. Augustine to an Eastern League win at the same venue.

He is not a big individual, but he made do with his physique in his two-way role last year.

Meanwhile, the Vikings have plenty to crow about after their dominating victory over the Torreys, who lost quarterback Will Bertrand to a fractured hip. Marvin Jones III, a receiver who had to fill Bertrand's spot early in the first half, also suffered a serious leg injury in the first half, reportedly a torn ACL.

LJHS freshman Zakai Jackson had a breakout game on 9/11, catching six passes for 57 yards and a touchdown. The 5'9" ninth-grader, who displayed a lot of savvy in summer 7-v-7 play against other schools and usually played with the starting unit, now has a total of 206 yards receiving through La Jolla's first four games.

Zakai has one other TD to his credit.

The freshman's score against Country Day came in the second half, which helped put the final nails in the coffin as LJCD fell behind, unable to recover with the Vikings' momentum and fielding a third-string QB who was not expecting to play.

Brody Bukich, La Jolla's junior quarterback, had a creditable game, starting and playing most snaps as he engineered Head Coach Tyler Roach's offense on drives to score.

Bukich, having his most success in any of the first four games, completed 10 of 18 passes for 63 yards. He had the one TD completion to Zakai, and threw no interceptions. He's working on being consistent in the short-to-midrange game, looking for Joseph Crudo, Zakai, Kali Deberry and others, some coming out of the backfield.

*  *  *

Meanwhile, Deberry continues to take a starring role in the ground game, rushing for 155 yards on 18 carries on Sept. 11. He scored two TD's, and his longest carry was 35 yards.

The junior, who attended Muirlands and came up through the Roach system, also caught two receptions for 18 yards.

Crudo, his hard-charging counterpart on the ground, took what is a light load for himself, though he plays both ways--offense and defense--with five carries for 33 yards. Joseph, a senior captain, also grabbed a pass for four yards.

Consistent and improving, a popular choice among his teammates who call out "Em, Em" on his plays, senior Emerson Rota, a converted lefthanded quarterback, caught just two passes for nine years. On the season, through just four games with many more to play, the blonde ranks third on the squad in passing yardage with 159 yards on 13 receptions.

LJ b water polo 15, Riverside Poly 5 - AFC semifinals - 9/19

Photos by Ed Piper

Barney Pearce's (5) defense in the "5"

position (left side of the cage) is literally

suffocating in the first quarter to his

opposing Poly player (underwater, left).

Dexter Black (front, black cap) is intimidating

in his coverage of Riverside counterpart

(rear, white cap) in the opening period.

Same player on offense is covered by Black

on the perimeter.

LJ's Emmet Gutierrez (right, 14) pins

Gabriel Suarez (4) in the "5" corner

early in the game as the Vikings

built a 4-1 lead in the first quarter.

Gutierrez, a sophomore, physically grabs

his opponent (see hand on arm) in his

aggressive pressure.

Viking goalie Addie Calhoun (1, red and black

cap, lower center) blocks a shot from the "3"

spot. (Ball is hidden in front of  Calhoun.)

New starter Jude Laifa (7) stifles Riverside

Poly's Kingston Moss (10) at the "4"

position (back row, right side facing

the goal).

LJ b w polo 18, Long Beach Poly 5 - AFC 1st round, day 1 - 9/18

Photos by Ed Piper

Long Beach Poly (white caps) is totally surrounded

by La Jolla's defense: Barney Pearce (5, black cap)

(near camera), Lev Kevorkian (2), and Quinn

Daniels (3) on ball.

All-CIFer Lev Kevorkian (2, black cap) battles

with Lars Kutzner-Smith (14, white) on La Jolla's

offensive end in the first quarter. Lev's two goals

helped the Vikings to a 9-2 lead.

Henry Glenister (13, black cap, left) fires a shot

to score with his left arm, a 7-2 lead.

Freshman Ben Rocha (far left behind net, barely

visible) scores LB Poly's second goal, 4-2, in the

early going as the visitors tried to stay in the game.

It was to no avail.

Dexter Black (with ball) lunges to physically place

the ball inside the goal against Jackrabbit goalie

Mark Salas (right). Black was CIF San Diego

Player of the Year last fall.

LB Poly

LJ b beach VB @ LJCD - 9/17

Photos by Ed Piper

Jeffrey Bruner, two's

Cameron Murphy, two's

Sam Newcomer (L) bumps for the newly-

constituted 5's. partner is Oscar McDonald.

LJ g golf vs. Mission Bay @ Torrey Pines Golf Course - 9/16

Photos by Ed Piper

Soph Tiffanie Brownson

works on the putting

green at Torrey Pines

before the match.

She shot a 51, fourth

of the six Vikings.

Senior Turi O'Brien (right) chats with

teammates Liesl Kijora (left), a sophomore,

and senior Bella Itkin (center) on the putting green.

A serious Bella Itkin (center rear), senior

co-captain, organizes the team and imparts

key points before the Vikings take on

Mission Bay. Itkin shot a 38, tied with

fellow captain Liesl Kijora, in the match.

New assistant Noel Marquez, near right,

listens in. Marquez graduated

in the LJHS Class of 2019.

Beautiful scenery at Torrey Pines State Beach,

just south of Torrey Pines Golf Course.

Bob Bergstrom, grandfather of Liesl Kijora,

takes a varsity team photo.

A hang-glider (right) comes into view

over the course from the edge of the

cliffs at Torrey Pines.

LJ b beach VB vs. Bishop's - 9/15

Photos by Ed Piper

Hudson Matheny, ones pair,

sets with a silhouette

in the sand.

Zen Benson (rear R)

leaps to spike for

the threes, as Mercan

Findikoglu watches.

Jeffrey Bruner, Hudson's

ones partner, skies for

a spike.

Bruner (L)

LJ b water polo 22, LJ FB 21 - penalty shootout - "Tangle in the Tank" - 9/15

Photos by Ed Piper

Senior All-CIFer Henry Glenister (wearing 10)

scores an early goal against tight end Nico

Bardaro.

Senior Barney Pearce

A packed student section (all along the fence

on Nautilus) attended the 3:45 game

(20 minutes after school let out).

Running back Joseph Crudo (center),

kicker/punter Ryan Hassankhani (left).

AJ Lennan (far left), lineman Travis McCarther

(second from left), and company before the

match.

LJ b beach VB: Busy week 9/14-18

By Ed Piper

This week, Sept. 14-18, will be a busy week for the Viking boys beach volleyball team: On Tuesday, they play at The Pit (across the street from the Big Dipper rollercoaster) against Bishop's. On Thursday, they go to La Jolla Country Day to play a match. Finally, to close the week, La Jolla travels to yet a third site, Scripps Ranch, to play the Falcons.

The Viking boys are being coached this fall by Jared Voeller, Myles Plaskonos, who graduated in 2025, and Dave Jones. Jones is out temporarily.

The Vikings, thankfully, took a break during the humidity and heat last week (Sept. 7-11) and had part of their schedule postponed and rescheduled.

Some sports went ahead. Some other activities went ahead. For example, the La Jolla football team still held its 9/11 tribute and played Country Day Friday, scoring their first victory of the season, 26-0. (See those entries for the game story and photos.)

There won't be a football game this Friday, Sept. 18. It is a bye week. A bye week is required each football season to give each team a break, different schools having their byes on different weeks to keep the schedule active.

However, the varsity football team--there's always someone who's not entirely comfortable with the water--shows up at the Coggan Family Athletic Complex Tuesday, Sept. 15, to face the Viking varsity boys water polo team in the pool. Usually, the football team gets three goalies, instead of one, because as the goalie you have to tread water and stay up so that you have a chance to block shots.

It looks easy when the swimmers and water polo players do it, but it isn't. To gather yourself and launch yourself up to put a hand up when the opposing team shoots is not something I have ever tried, but the football players will demonstrate how difficult that task obviously is.

Usually, a player or two on the football side has a background of swim team involvement, even water polo team play, and lifts the rest of the roster up. But the match will go down as something like seven points for one football team goal, one point for a water polo team goal. And the water polo team will still usually win.

See it to believe it.

LJ FB: A weird parallel

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's struggles in football starting the 2026 season (0-3 through last Friday, Sept. 4) weirdly parallel my own attempts to deal with a bad case of COVID over the same period of time.

This Friday's (Sept. 11) game was my first attendance and reporting with some semblance of health. No more bright red eyes (with salt-like grime coming out of them three weeks ago), no more hacking cough (last Friday, the home opener against Point Loma)--I had to leave at halftime with the most recent cough.

The 26-0 victory over visiting La Jolla Country Day left me the chance to catch my breath and finally say, "We're making some headway," for both the Viking football team and for me (and my wife, who I gave COVID).

It was a little bit sad, I have to say honestly, with the Torreys' thrashing at the hands of La Jolla. I had something invested in the visiting team, since they are one of the four schools I rotate (along with LJ, UC, and Bishop's) in covering sports for in the La Jolla Village News/Times of San Diego. Before the game, finally having some voice to use, I worked on a feature about the LJCD team by interviewing the Defensive Coordinator, various players who were available before warmups, and even quarterback Will Bertrand.

The sadness: Will, soon after I interviewed him in one corner of the Viking weight room, was badly injured on a pass play when his lower leg flipped, hyperextending it, and apparently dislocating his hip, all on one unfortunate play. Then his successor at QB, Marvin Jones III, also got carted off the field. Both are spending different kinds of weekends, especially Bertrand, a junior at LJCD, who is going to have to work to rehab his leg after it heals.

I wouldn't have been able to meet him and the others, nor be at the game long, if I hadn't been feeling better. I had a case of COVID back closer to when the pandemic started and hit us locally March 13, 2020, but this one, a "lighter strain", according to someone at the doctor's, hit me much harder. I spent most of last week sleeping several days.

And I'm still not out of the woods.

So, for all those Viking fall athletic teams I haven't been able to cover lately, I'll be back giving you a hard time (I'm kidding, I think) as I feel better and regain some strength.

In Coach Tyler Roach's 10 years at La Jolla High, I don't remember another 0-3 start. It has been rough. But he has always been a head coach and an Offensive Coordinator with a million ideas and ways to involve new players, put playmakers in the fore, and generate more offense when either someone gets injured or the offense just needs more juice.

Right now, running back Kali Deberry is looking like the one to get anyone out of the doldrums. He carried the ball Friday against the Torreys 18 times for 155 yards. He brings to mind Aidan "Carolina" McGill from two years ago, who also gained the hard yardage and ended up being an All-Eastern League running back.

LJ FB: Game story 9/11

By Ed Piper

On a 17-play, length-of-the-field drive to open the game Friday night, Sept. 11, against La Jolla Country Day, junior quarterback Brody Bukich directed the Vikings to their first touchdown of the long night, a one-yard plunge by running back Kali Deberry.

Fittingly, Deberry, one of La Jolla's workhorses this season along with Joseph Crudo, featured in nine of Head Coach Tyler Roach's plays in the sequence.

The possession took just under six minutes (5:43, to be exact). From there, the Torreys, behind 6'6" QB Will Bertrand, threatened on possessions of their own. All of that abruptly came to an end when, near the end of the opening quarter, Bertrand had his leg hyperextend (bend the wrong way) and reportedly his femur (hipbone) was dislocated on an unfortunate play after an incomplete pass to receiver Marvin Jones III.

Bertrand was calm and alert, with his parents on the field. Finally, a Falck ambulance took him away on a gurney and play resumed after nearly 21 minutes of delay. Both teams had to do a short warmup after inactivity the last third of an hour. The 9/11 observance at halftime, with American flags plastered around the stadium, would have to wait, along with the large crowd in attendance.

Late in the second quarter, with the Vikings holding their 7-0 lead, another delay occurred when Jones, filling in for Bertrand at quarterback, went down. It was an unlucky night for Torrey quarterbacks, as the night showed.

Finally, Crudo carried the ball over for La Jolla's TD with 46.1 seconds left in the half, a 14-0 lead. It was Crudo's third play in a row running the ball. Earlier in the drive behind Bukich, Deberry handled the ball in three straight plays.

By then, the Vikings' burning desire to win their first game of the season after four tries overwhelmed Country Day's dwindling resources for the 26-0 final. In the second quarter alone, play had to be stopped multiple times while Torrey players lay on the field, needing assistance before play resumed.

LJ FB 26, LJCD 0 - 9/11 - Week 4

Photos by Ed Piper

Joseph Crudo (10) carries late in the second

quarter. Crudo scored the Vikings' second TD

just before the half to lead 14-0.

LJ's Kali Deberry (23) runs for more bruising

yardage in the first half. Deberry, a junior, and

Crudo, a senior, were the workhorses

in the first half.

LJ Cheer: 9/11 @ FB

Photos by Ed Piper