LJ FB: Roach comments on QB's

By Ed Piper

About three weeks ago, La Jolla High Head Football Coach Tyler Roach commented on his two quarterbacks this season.

"It's the eternal question. Whether Brody (Bukich) or Ty (Tortorice) starts," he said. "Brody came in late as a transfer during the summer, so it has taken him a while to get his footing. He has a quick release, kind of like Huddy (Hudson Smith, 2024 and 2025). Ty has an unorthodox throwing motion."

Roach is going to have a lot of patience with Bukich, who came from Mt. Carmel High and was the starting quarterback for the Sun Devil freshmen, then the Sun Devil JV's, according to him.

LJ FB: Q&A with Stephen Cooper, former Charger and present SDHS head coach

By Ed Piper

Stephen Cooper is the first-year football coach at San Diego High, which La Jolla played Fri., Oct. 23. He played for the San Diego Chargers as a linebacker for nine years. Stephen is the father of Kye Cooper, a senior linebacker for the Cavers who is a Division 1 commit at SDSU next year.

In the short interview before the game, Coach Cooper was serious, focused, specific (in naming players to watch on his offense and defense). He did not give more information than he was asked for. The last question, I used as a teaser, not having previously thought exactly what I would ask him.

(I introduced myself and put a hand out to shake.)

A: How are you doing? Nice to meet you.

Cooper: What do you guys do well?

Cooper: There are a lot of guys on the field. We just try to maximize what we do.

Q: You guys have had some close games.

Cooper: (No reply)

A: (kept going to try to elicit a response) You've had some good victories. It's kind of you guys, UC, La Jolla in a scramble.

Cooper: Yeah.

Q: Who should we be looking for on offense?

Cooper: Offensively, our quarterback, Jayden Harris, number 11; Delontay Williams and Kye Cooper, number 1 and number 4; Jayden Johnson at running back, number 2.

Q: Anybody remind you of you (in your playing days)?

A: (a slight smile) No, that day of being a dog and being a killer out here are long gone. These kids are too nice, but on the other hand, they're having fun doing it

LJ FB: Game review 10/23

Vikings captains head toward midfield

for the pregame coin toss: (from left)

Evan Martinson (55), Zach Gergurich (75),

Nico Bardaro (15), and Joseph Crudo (10).

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

After hard-running Joseph Crudo carried the ball 20 yards to pay dirt to bring La Jolla to within striking distance of host San Diego, 21-14, the Cavers broke Viking fans' hearts with a 65-yard TD by Kye Cooper, a D1 commit to SDSU and the son of former Charger linebacker Stephen Cooper, the new coach for SDHS, with 2:07 left in the game.

The matchup was played between two long-time area schools--La Jolla High was founded in 1922, San Diego High in 1882--in historic Balboa Stadium, which once was the scene for President Woodrow Wilson's speech supporting the establishment of the League of Nations, a concert by the Beatles, and many other events. The site, featuring a U-shaped, double-deck stadium that held 40,000 for the Chargers to play there during the 1960's, was demolished due to earthquake standards and rebuilt as the present small high school football venue in 1978.

"I was born in 1969, after all that," said Caver assistant coach Frank Buncom III, whose father, Frank Jr., played linebacker for the AFL Chargers, before the game when asked about the history of the place. His father, he said, is a member of the Chargers' Ring of Honor, now presumably housed at Petco Park in the Breitbard Hall of Fame.

LJ back Joseph Crudo (10) drags tackler

Xavier Wilson on a five-yard gain

in the third quarter. Crudo scored

a key TD to close the scoring gap

late in the game.

Back to present day, the Vikings had one last gap in a TD by senior Nico Bardaro, covering 22 yards on a pass from quarterback Brody Bukich. That made the score 28-21. When La Jolla recovered an onside kick with 28 seconds left, Bukich fired a Hail Mary pass up into the air, but Caver defenders knocked it down, and that was the game.

La Jolla falls to 2-2 in the Eastern League, 3-6 overall, with one game remaining.

Both teams made a lot of mistakes. The game was San Diego High's Homecoming, in which the senior couple was announced and presented in a parade of muscle cars around the track during halftime with the freshman, sophomore, and junior couples.

The Viking squad prays under a goalpost

before the game, a practice started by new

Defensive Coordinator Stephen Dixon.

LJ Cheer: LJ-SDHS FB 10/23

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ FB 21, SDHS 28 - Week 10 (of 11) - 10/23

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ back Kali Deberry (23) carries

for two yards during the drive that

led to the Vikings' first TD

in the second period.

Nico Bardaro (15) scored on this one-yard play,

taking the snap directly from Emerson Rota
(hiking football) in the second quarter

to tie the game, 7-7. The TD came with

6:42 left in the period.

Bryson Grant (white uniform) takes a

31-yard pass from QB Brody Bukich

to set up the Vikings' first TD in the

second quarter. He is covered by

Damian De La Cruz (blue uniform)

of the Cavers.

QB Brody Bukich passes

in the second period.

Caver Kye Cooper (4), a D1 commit to SDSU,

takes a 7-yard pass from Jayden Harris

for a first down. Play occurred

to open the second quarter.

The senior couple of the Caver Homecoming Court

rides in a souped-up, late-model car

to the delight of the packed house.

LJ FH 0, Canyon Hills 3 - 3rd quarter - 10/22

Photos by Ed Piper

Sofia Saiegh (near camera) hits

the ball with the back of her stick

with Harmony Cooks-Macdonald

(31) closing in.

Rattlers' Evie Allen (2, far left)

hits a penalty shot into the far right of the

goal (see green ball in front of the left post

in front of the goalie), with Vikings goalkeeper

Adalee Branstetter (77) guessing the other side.

The goal came late in the first half for

a 2-0 score.

Ethan Warford, age 6 1/2, with a new

parted haircut. Coach Amanda Warford's

son.

LJ b water polo 15, Bishop's 17 - 2nd round, Western League - 10/21

Photos by Ed Piper

Bishop's (white caps) goes into a four-corner stall

to freeze the ball after building a two-point lead

and regaining possession with 13 seconds left.

LJ's Henry Glenister (13) is pounded inside

with two minutes left as the Vikings try to score

and come back after going down 17-15.

Covering Glenister is Mark Minasian.

The Glenister twins, Henry and Simon, stand

with their grandparents before the match.

Dexter Black (4) of the Vikings gets dunked

by Knight Liam Zarcu with Bishop's leading,

9-8, with three minutes left in the third

quarter. LJ coach Tom Atwell to the refs:

"Is that part of the game?"

Black makes one of several penalty shots

down the stretch. Both teams combined

to score nine goals in the fourth quarter.

It was a fast and furious finish.

A referee checks fingernails

and big toe nails for clipping--

no slashing with them!