Players honor the flag after prayer by
Christian High's chaplain.
(Photos by Ed Piper)
La Jolla beat ninth-ranked Christian High 41-19 in one of the Vikings' biggest upsets of a top ten football team in recent memory, Sat., Oct. 3, at Granite Hills High.
The Vikings built up a 17-0 halftime lead against the powerhouse Patriots, and never relinquished the lead.
La Jolla started out quickly on its first possession, with Christian's defense reacting slowly to a 17-yard run by Jonathan Levenson, then a pass from Casey Brown that Levenson tipped and got control of for a 30-yard gain.
Though the Vikings didn't score on that possession, they put the hosts back a little on their heels through a scoreless first quarter.
Finally, La Jolla struck early in the second quarter on an 11-yard pass from Brown to Levenson. Alex Dockery scored later in the stanza on a three-yard run. Trenton Fudge, who made key contributions again for the Vikings, kicked a field goal after La Jolla recovered the ensuing kickoff to put LJHS up by 17 going into the locker room at intermission.
Linebacker Nick Hammel shows perfect tackling
form in stopping Patriots' Michael Tobiason.
Christian, which won a 42-38 shootout against the Vikings in the CIF Division III quarterfinals last season behind quarterback David Jeremiah, had a hard time getting started. The Patriots were playing without injured mini-back Adrian Petty, who piled up yards against La Jolla last year.
In Petty's stead, Michael Tobiason was effective, but not explosive. Christian stayed on the ground to score as they battled back to 17-13 early in the fourth quarter. But Brown found the fleet Levenson twice more for touchdowns of 57 and 74 yards, sandwiched around a 99-yard kickoff runback by Patriot Nick Sexton, and La Jolla was sailing 30-19.
"I didn't see that one coming," said one observer of the La Jolla upset. The Vikings beat Coronado last week, but that victory over a weak opponent had been preceded by three consecutive blowout losses.
As La Jolla built up the first half lead and held Christian down, players inevitably relaxed a little and confidence grew. Defender Jalen Nelson intercepted a Jeremiah aerial on fourth-and-15 with 2:23 remaining to close the book on Christian. That gave the 5'10" junior a match for the pick he had earlier at the seven-minute mark.
Andrew Mitchell deflected a pass in the same series as Nelson's first interception.
Fudge, who starred with three TD receptions in the win at Coronado, didn't score a touchdown this time around. But he was Brown's periodic target, when the quarterback wasn't firing to Levenson or letting running backs Dockery and Joseph Duran pound out yardage on the ground.
Fudge caught a Brown pass for 35 yards after two misfires on the Vikings' first possession after halftime. They turned the ball over on downs a short time later, but the Brown-Fudge threat kept pressure on Christian's defense. Fudge's kicking was excellent. He added a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make it 34-19.
Ross Martin had a sack with under five minutes left and the Patriots threatening. Jesus Manzano deflected a pass by Jeremiah on the next series, and Christian was basically done when the Nelson pick occurred.
This closed out preleague action for the Vikings. They take on Mission Bay at Mission Bay next Friday in the Western League opener.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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