Daniel McColl (55) weighs down
LJCD's Brendan Goring, with
teammate Ross Martin (44) getting
in the mix. (Photo Ed Piper)
Daniel McColl's star as an athlete at La Jolla High has ascended prior to the start of his junior year.
In spring and summer league basketball at Montgomery, Grossmont, and other leagues for Coach Paul Baranowski's squad, McColl showed considerable skill, especially for a young front court man. He displayed a nice shooting touch, including at the free throw line. And he led the way for the Vikings in mixing things up under the basket, showing some good physicality. The Vikings have lacked that for a while.
Meanwhile, in passing leagues in football over the summer, McColl worked hard enough as a linebacker and offensive lineman to be named a team captain as a junior to begin the fall season.
In La Jolla's 52-42 win at Country Day in both team's season opener Fri., Aug. 28, McColl made a key play to snuff out a threat at the end of the game. The Torreys had the ball at midfield and faced a fourth-and-four situation, where they had to gain the first down or give up the ball fatally.
Their explosive quarterback, Braxton Burmeister, had already piled up 323 total yards passing and running. He took the snap, with McColl facing him from his linebacker position several yards away.
Burmeister kept the ball and took off to the left side of his line. McColl, from his defensive position, ran in pursuit of the fleet junior QB. Impressively, he overtook him and tackled him from behind at the La Jolla 48-yard line. That ended the Country Day threat, and turned the ball over to the Vikings and allowed them to run out the clock.
Asked about the play, McColl was forthright. "I trained a ton during the summer and focused on getting faster and lighter," he replied. It was certainly visible on that play in his team's opener.
He was credited with four solo tackles and one assist by statisticians.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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