By Ed Piper
New La Jolla head football coach Matt Morrison's former players at La Costa Canyon, where he was offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015, enjoyed competing against him Tues., July 12, in a 7-on-7 passing league scrimmage at LCC.
"He looks weird in different school colors," said one player from Morrison's former team.
"Matt, was that a first down?" asked another, on a first-name basis with the coach.
Before the one-hour workout on a grass field next to the football stadium on the North County campus, several white-jerseyed Mavericks, in a jovial mood upon seeing their former offensive leader, approached Morrison near the La Jolla sideline to decide which team's offense would take the field first by playing rock-paper-scissors.
One Mav said, "He's going to choose paper." What he did choose wasn't recorded for posterity. But LCC won rock-paper-scissors and the Mavs' quarterback and fellow six took the field.
The Vikings' Alex Dockery had a spectacular catch on a long pass from quarterback Cole Dimich early in La Jolla's first possession, followed quickly by a touchdown reception by Daniel Souza. The visitors, outnumbered considerably by the much larger host football program, appeared pumped up at the challenge of playing the Division 1 school.
Later, as La Costa Canyon showed some flair--though La Jolla exhibited some strengths, as well--the Maverick players, who started out jocular among themselves, grew even more emboldened. They went from high-fives and flying hip bumps, to cooking up a plan to celebrate a play in a much more flamboyant way.
Head coach Sean Sovacool, in his seventh year at the helm, put the quash on that. "We have people here taking pictures," referring to me, whom he had asked earlier in a friendly way who I was taking photos for. "We're not going to do that."
In the earlier exchange, I had replied to Sovacool, "LJ." He asked, "LJ?" I said, "La Jolla." "Oh."
I said, "We ought to get a photo of you and Matt together." He said, "Yeah, that'd be a good idea," then went about his business. I got a photo of the two interacting during the workout, so I took that as sufficient as the two held post-practice powwows with their respective teams, and there was still a long drive home through Golden Triangle traffic jams.
You could tell the LCC players are used to success. They had a cockiness, probably well-deserved. They were talking among themselves, with me standing with my camera on monopod in their midst on their sidelines. So they weren't bragging to the world. But their banter among themselves was good-natured teammate talk, ribbing, encouragement, challenges.
They were able to get a little carried away as the 7-on-7 progressed, because as the established, bigger program, they were clearly superior to the smaller contingent from down the coast. Sovacool clearly has control. He has a booming voice and commanding presence, which he visibly exerted at times during the afternoon.
It made me think of what it would be like for La Jolla to be a Division 1 school, with a large population and numerous boys going out for football, which it doesn't have at this point in its trajectory. La Jolla is the little program on the block, trying to build itself up a little after the coaching transition. Matt Morrison is on the right path.
One thing I liked about Sovacool was that when he addressed his players right before the 7-on-7 against his former assistant coach, he told them, "Let's take care of each other. We're all family." He was referring to La Jolla as well as LCC.
I asked Morrison incredulously after negotiating traffic into North County to take photos, "You drove up here every day from your school in Ocean Beach?" He said, "Yes, school let out at 3 p.m. I'd be in the car by 3:10 and get up here by about 4." Wow. What a grind. Take part in practice, then still have the drive back home. Then do it all over again the next day.
Another observation I had was that LCC, predominantly a white team, doesn't fit the bill of what we become accustomed to seeing when we view college and pro football on TV--with many stars, to a large percentage, being African-American. I'm not saying LCC's football team is Long Beach Poly or Mater Dei. But here are upper-middle class white kids populating a successful high school football program. It's just more food for thought.
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