Coastal Clash field hockey

Tucker (far left) and Amanda Warford (far right)
with their senior players, Nikki Collins
and Nora Joyce, at the Vikings' game
against Bishop's Nov. 2.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Talk about complementary skills, Amanda and Tucker Warford work together in a highly visible way as coaches of the La Jolla High field hockey team, and it seems to be working well.

The Vikings, the fourth seed in the CIF Division 1 playoffs this week, are benefitting from their steadiness and calmness in this, Amanda's first year as head coach of the LJHS program. Tucker, though not named co-head coach, stands right beside his wife, literally, during games and timeouts.

It's a remarkable relationship, here in this day and age of Twitter trash talking and the reality of an increasing number of high school coaches being "walk-on's"--non-classroom teachers--who, instead, specialize in coaching their particular sport professionally.

And Amanda, who does all the talking during the Vikings' timeouts during games, except for contributions from her varsity players, isn't one to do trash-talking at all. She's the antithesis of the LaVar Ball blathery, media-grabbing approach.

"I want to do anything that will promote the sport of field hockey," she told me earlier in the season. And she is believable, putting her time and money where her mouth is. She and Tucker, according to the Coastal Clash field hockey club website (Tucker's area of expertise), are all in with the club, taking over leadership two years ago and devoting considerable energy to the enterprise.

Their locus has changed with Amanda being named head coach at LJHS by Athletic Director Paula Conway earlier this year. Much of the Clash's website is taken up with information on youth leagues more in the North County--Escondido and the like.

Their colleague in coaching the Clash, Ana Loevenguth, who founded the club six years ago, was the head coach at Sage Creek High, one of the newer high schools in the county. It is located a long way north of La Jolla, that's for sure.

The Warfords' stated reason for coaching the sport is to enable all girls, even boys in some cases, to learn and enjoy field hockey--not just students feeding one particular high school program.

That's a rare philosophy these days. It resembles the approach of another local coach, though in a different sport: Beto Vasquez, who is the head aquatics coach at University City High. Beto, who lives and breathes water polo, is getting kids across the county into swimming pools--even one who confided in him, "Coach, I can't even swim very well. I don't know if I can even play water polo."

Beto told the boy: "Do you trust me? I can get you there."

It's the same can-do attitude that Amanda takes. You come, and Tucker and I will develop your stick skills in field hockey.

Right now, even as the CIF playoffs rage toward their competitive conclusion, the couple are up to their necks in non-school field hockey for girls ages 7 to 14. The latest training and play began October 15, and it concludes this week.

A whopping 30 girls, as young as second grade, came out for the month-long event.

My hats are off to the Warfords, because they have priced this "fall training" in the affordable range for families of girls to be able to pay, yet workable for the coaches so that they can continue to devote so much time to enabling girls to play the sport.

The Warfords go back to their earlier North County ties in January with a league taking place at the Escondido Sports Center.

I have talked to girls attending Canyon Crest Academy, one of the high schools I substitute-teach at, and they know Amanda and Tucker. "Oh, we have coached those girls," said Amanda when I asked about the connection.

Amanda, herself, was Grossmont League Most Valuable Player in her high school days at El Capitan High. She received that honor for her senior season in 2006.

She went on to star at UCSD, being named the Offensive MVP in the conference in 2010. Tucker has played the sport and became the instructional chair for the San Diego field hockey officials' association three years ago.

LJ x-country: Western League Finals 11/7 - photos

By Ed Piper

LJ FB 28, Mar Vista 0

By Ed Piper

La Jolla, a team that once stood at 1-4, completed its fifth win in six games with a 28-0 whitewash of visiting Mar Vista in their first round Division 3 playoff game Fri., Nov. 10.

The Vikings started slowly and sluggishly, missing connections and allowing the Mariners, who lost their starting quarterback to injury three games ago, to move the ball and maintain the momentum through much of the first half.

Finally, a noticeably off-target Trevor Scully connected with receiver Johnathan O'Neal for a 19-yard touchdown with a minute left in the half to give the hosts a 7-0 lead to take into the locker room at halftime.

Things snowballed from there in La Jolla's favor.

"We increased the tempo on offense, and got Trevor to calm down," said co-captain Tucker Jacobs, who was active helping defend Mar Vista's fill-in quarterback, De'von Peterson. "We compressed the line to contain their offense."

"I think we got caught up a little in the hype of the playoff game during the week," said O'Neal, the other senior co-captain. "We got a little too antsy (early on)."

Scully scored the Vikings' second TD on a quarterback keeper late in the third quarter for a 13-0 lead. Nick Goehler, Mr. Automatic on PAT's, made good on all four of his opportunities.

Senior Miles Matalon took a short pass from Scully early in the fourth period to put La Jolla up comfortably, 21-0.

Then, after Dre McGrath made his second interception of Peterson, Scully dealt to receiver Michael Wells on a 16-yard pass play with eight minutes left, putting the game out of reach at 28-0.

The damage would have been worse if a touchdown following freshman Max Smith's block of a punt hadn't been called back to begin the fourth quarter.

Scully ran the ball 14 times for 68 yards, and was 12 for 25 passing for 102 yards.

Among Viking receivers, Wells caught three passes for 37 yards. Matalon had four receptions for 31 yards, and O'Neal three catches for 29 yards.

On the ground, Zach Garcia carried seven times for 36 yards. Noah Marquez rushed eight times for 31 yards.

Defensively for the red and black, Jacobs led all tacklers with nine stops, six of those solos. O'Neal had seven tackles, six unassisted. Smith recorded six tackles, of which five were solos. McGrath had four tackles, with three of them solos.

Punter Kenny Hayden boomed his kicks, sailing his two punts that counted for an average of 40 yards each. He had one called back on a penalty that landed far downfield.

La Jolla moves on to the second round of the CIF playoffs with an away game against Santa Fe Christian Fri., Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. The venue is likely to be Torrey Pines High School, since the Eagles' home facility is smaller.

Santa Fe Christian thrashed the Vikings 58-14 in week four of the season in a non-league tilt at Edwards Field. Said Scully, "We'll be going for revenge."

LJ b water polo 11, Bishop's 9

Viking goalie Cole Raulston (L),
who played a career game in the semis.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Local water polo coaches can be pretty secretive about their players' statistics. They don't want any information getting out that might aid opponents in scouting their team.

Cole Atwell, La Jolla's standout and the coach's son, broke through that veil of silence in a big way Wed., Nov. 8, in the Vikings' Open Division semifinal playoff game in their home pool at the Coggan Family venue on campus.

The husky sophomore scored six goals, including the go-ahead goal with two and a half minutes left and an insurance goal with a minute left, to seal La Jolla's place in the finals versus number-one seed Coronado Sat., Nov. 11, with a decisive 11-9 victory over Bishop's.

But Atwell didn't do it alone. Viking goalie Cole Raulston, who stepped up in Saturday's quarterfinal win by stymieing big dog Cathedral Catholic, played another career match. He displayed quickness and deft reactivity in recording 10 saves, including on the Knights' Ford Eldredge just before Atwell's go-ahead goal.

Atwell, on his dagger of a goal on a penalty shot past Bishop's goalie George Hagestad for insurance, was asked if he was thinking right side the whole time. "No, not at all. I waited, I watched him," before deciding to fire the ball in that far corner, while the goalie guessed left.

Hagestad, a tall, physical athlete, came out from in front of the cage to encounter Atwell, who was dribbling the ball as he swam down the pool alone ahead of the rest of the players on a counter. But the goalie, a senior veteran, in trying to be proactive, fouled the sophomore. That gave Atwell the free shot opportunity.

Neither of the rival teams led by more than a goal in the hard-fought match, other than when the Knights went up by two, 8-6, on Max Carrillo's third goal near the end of the third quarter, and then La Jolla with the final margin.

There is just a different level of intensity in the playoffs, and the tension could be felt among the burgeoning crowd. After the end of the first quarter, with the two opponents knotted at 3-3, a large group of additional Bishop's students moved across the south end of the Coggan pool to position themselves next to their seated classmates as an SRO contingent--the student section being filled.

With the two student bodies swapping "We can't hear you" chants, sitting right next to one another, Atwell was able to curve one of his patented soft lobs behind Hagestad to nestle into the net for a 6-5 La Jolla lead with over five minutes left in the third quarter.

Teammate Pablo Rayon, like Raulston a junior, set up Atwell with a beautiful soft pass within Atwell's reach near the left face of the goal that Cole batted in to bring the Vikings within 8-7, trailing by one, shortly before the third quarter buzzer.

Senior Tyler Brown had a hat trick for La Jolla before being ejected with his third personal foul with 1:43 left in the game and the Vikings working hard to maintain a slim lead at 10-9.

Winning the sprint to the ball dropped by the referee at mid-pool to start each quarter can be an advantage. La Jolla won three of four, capitalizing finally in the fourth quarter with a goal by Rayon. Coach Tom Atwell used three different players in the sprint: Maverick Becker in the first quarter, Atwell in the second, then senior Johnny Dickerson for both the second half starts.

In the first period, Atwell missed wide right with a shot attempt after the sprint with only four seconds elapsed on the game clock. In the second quarter, Bishop's stole the ball when a pass went into the two-meter position in front of the goal.

Carrillo scored for Bishop's inside after he got the ball on offense following Merle Richman's successful sprint to begin the third quarter. Richman, a junior, also had a hat trick for the Knights.


SCORING
La Jolla-Bishop's

1st Quarter
0-1  6:32  Bishop's - #15 Merle Richman
1-1  5:34  LJ - #11 Maverick Becker
2-1  2:24  LJ - #14 Tyler Brown
2-2  1:34  Bishop's - #6 Sam De La Cruz
2-3  0:26  Bishop's - #9 Max Carrillo
3-3  0:15  LJ - #13 Cole Atwell

2nd Quarter
3-4  2:56  Bishop's - #15 Merle Richman
4-4  0:30  LJ - #14 Tyler Brown

3rd Quarter
4-5  6:32  Bishop's - #9 Max Carrillo
5-5  6:09  LJ - #13 Cole Atwell
6-5  5:32  LJ - #13 Cole Atwell
6-6  2:51  Bishop's - #15 Merle Richman
6-7  2:12  Bishop's - #10 Ford Eldredge
6-8  0:30  Bishop's - #9 Max Carrillo
7-8  0:13  LJ - #13 Cole Atwell

4th Quarter
8-8  6:39  LJ - #12 Pablo Rayon
9-8  5:02  LJ - #14 Tyler Brown
9-9  4:37  Bishop's - #4 Jack Martin
10-9  2:36  LJ - #13 Cole Atwell
11-9  1:12  LJ - #13 Cole Atwell

LJ FH 1, Cathedral Catholic 3

By Ed Piper

After fighting the good fight, yet falling 3-1 to visiting Cathedral Catholic in their last regular season game, La Jolla plays the waiting game until Wednesday night, Nov. 10, to find out the Vikings' placement in the CIF Division 1 playoffs, which begin Sat., Nov. 13.

Senior Nora Joyce, who has provided a lot of leadership on first-year coach Amanda Warford's team, scored the equalizer with 16:41 left in the first half for a 1-1 score.

The Dons then scored the go-ahead goal with 5:42 left in the half. They followed that with an insurance goal in the second half, holding the hosts without another goal.

Warford, calm, teaching, accentuating the positive as always this season, told her players at halftime to look up when they passed, so that they could spot their teammates.

"See the space" is a common mantra the coach recites to team members, to remind them to be aware of where they are on the field and to distribute themselves position-wise for an effective offensive and defensive placing.

She said, "You're playing good hockey."

Sophomore Serene Liu did her defensive magic again, swiping the ball cleanly from an opponent. Junior Morgan Hansen was super active from her center spot, handling the ball a lot and advancing it against Cathedral's constant pressure.

Nikki Collins, the only other senior on the squad, with Joyce playing her final regular season game at home, pursued, fought, blocked, and did all the other things she has done for four years on two different artificial surfaces on the Edwards Stadium field.

Collins, who in her freshman year was a tiny player measuring less than five feet tall, has played for at least three different coaches, including Warford, Lisa Griffiths, who coached at LJHS for two years, and Athletic Director Paula Conway.

Collins had the advantage of having played soccer for several years, so she came in with the athleticism and experience of playing competitive sports, just as many of her teammates also did.

The Vikings play in the tough City Western League, atop of which Serra reigns undefeated as the repeat league champion.

LJ FB: A further look

By Ed Piper

La Jolla did a lot of good things against University City Nov. 3, the Vikings just didn't do enough of them at the right time.

Before the quintet of touchdowns by the Centurions in the fourth quarter, which changed the City League title showdown from a close game ending the third quarter, 27-24--La Jolla trailing by only three--into a 55-31 rout, quarterback Trevor Scully and the offense accumulated a lot of positive yards and points.

It's often exciting to see junior receiver Michael Wells in the vicinity of the ball, and he didn't disappoint, though his 17-yard touchdown reception came in the middle of the UC onslaught down the stretch.

Miles Matalon showed us what we have been missing, as mentioned previously, with his two long TD catches: 54 yards from Scully's hand in the second quarter, gifting the visitors with a 17-12 lead, then 70 yards early in the fourth quarter (for the 27-24 count).

UC was fueled by a large Senior Night crowd, accompanied by the huge Centurion band. So as Marcel Patterson ran away from the Viking defense for his 281 yards and four touchdowns, and as E'lonte Rico showed his own running skills, the multitude got louder and louder--after each TD, counting loudly in unison push-ups by yell leaders on the track area in front of the home stands up to the number of points their team had.

The crowd support only seemed to energize UC that much more.

It takes a while to do 55 push-ups--and a lot more energy than I ever had--much less count that high.

To the Centurion defense's credit, it kept the wraps on Gabe Solis, Scully's favorite target. The fleet junior accounted for six catches, but he could only get 37 yards on those passes. His longest reception covered 16 yards of artificial real estate.

Scully, himself, did the bulk of the Vikings' ground work. He rolled out and ran on called plays both for 58 yards, putting his team into the scoring column with its first TD in the first quarter.

Head coach Tyler Roach, chatting with Defensive Coordinator Collin Eardley leaning on a pickup outside Edwards Stadium Thursday night after practice during the La Jolla field hockey game, said, "We found that's what Trevor likes to do. So we said, 'Okay, go ahead and do it.' We set up some plays designed for him to run."

La Jolla's running backs have pretty much struggled all season. Zach Garcia carried 11 times for 34 yards. Greg Nelson II was inserted later, carrying three times for negligible yardage. Even sophomore Jack Wiese got an opportunity late in the game, with three carries.

Back in the air, senior Johnathan O'Neal, a leader on the defense, had four receptions for 41 yards. Israel Sandoval took a pass 22 yards in a nice gain.

It was on defense where the red and black piled up some pretty numbers, despite the loss. After all, La Jolla isn't done for the season, playing host to Mar Vista (also 5-5 overall) in a CIF Division 3 first-round playoff game Fri., Nov. 10 (a school holiday for Veteran's Day). Eardley's defense is a big reason for that.

In updated statistics, O'Neal made 11 stops, six of those solo. Kenny Hayden, enjoying life as a linebacker, had eight tackles, three unassisted. Max Smith recorded 11 tackles, two of those solo plus a fumble recovery.

Tucker Jacobs, team co-captain with O'Neal, made eight stops, one a solo. Solis had five tackles, three of those unassisted, while industrious Abdul Sinjab also had five, including two solo.

LJ b water polo: A second look

By Ed Piper

Tom Atwell, upon learning of La Jolla's sixth seed matched up against Cathedral Catholic as the third seed in the Open Division water polo playoffs, said, "We like going in as the underdog. We match up well with them."

Well, the coach's words came true, as seniors Maverick Becker and Rory Groth helped lead the Vikings to a satisfying 8-7 win over the Dons in the first round of the playoffs Nov. 4.

Becker, firing a shot, figuratively, across Cathedral's bow, literally scored the game's first goal by sneaking a shot past Don goalie Andrew Kuypers with only 30 seconds left in the opening quarter. It was the first goal of Becker's hat trick of three on the night.

The senior stalwart also scored key goals in the third and fourth quarters of a tooth-and-nail match, one to bring La Jolla back into a tie with Cathedral at 6-6 after the Vikings fought back from a two-goal deficit early in the second half.

The other shot knotted the score at 7-7, with less than six minutes left in the match, to set up Cole Atwell's lob shot less than a minute later to put La Jolla ahead to stay.

All the while, the senior Atwell kept up his usual vocal interchange with the game officials. Like when his son rubbed an eye after taking the ball away on defense with four minutes left in the match and the lead at one: "They did an eye gouge. Did you see that?" It was part of a match-long conversation, at least from the coach's side, we might say.

La Jolla, like its opponents made up of players who swim for various area club teams in the non-school season, including Del Mar, San Diego Shores, and La Jolla (the latter which Tom Atwell coaches), had entered the playoffs with a less-than-sparkling record. The Vikings were listed at 11-14, while Cathedral wasn't much better at 14-14. But the Dons' season is over; LJHS moves on to the semifinals Wed., Nov. 8.

Cole Raulston made his ninth save in goal with 5:21 left in the match. The junior blocked another shot, a skip attempt, with 3:10 left.

With tension really peaking, the goalie blocked a shot at point-blank range at 1:48, once again preserving the narrow lead.

Cole Atwell had a key takeaway on defense as he dropped back into the middle with 3:58 left. That was on the "eye gouge" play.

In the third quarter, La Jolla was called for an illegal substitution. Officials ruled that a player entered the pool prematurely. The coach, in remonstrating with the referees, complained that he couldn't see the official at the scorer's table signalling with a flag because his view was blocked by a loud speaker.

Cathedral was awarded a penalty shot, but Raulston, moving swiftly to his left, blocked the shot aimed just inside the right post. The score was 5-5 at the time.