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.
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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.
