LJ FB: QB whisperer

Cole Dimich throwing on the run against LJCD's

Casey Mariucci, who showed him how it was

done with many of his own receptions on the

offensive end from Torrey QB Braxton Burmeister.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

When I was a senior in high school, I was having a good season--a very good season--in basketball.

One area that could be tightened up was my free throw shooting. I was potentially a 70 or 80 percent free thrower, which is solid.

A schoolmate, Dave Goethel--a left-handed pitcher in youth baseball--took it upon himself to point out to me that I needed to concentrate better on my shots from the charity stripe.

He went even further than that: At lunch, on the outside basketball courts at Camarillo High School, he instructed me to take a few shots. He was very specific in what he told me to do.

Little did I know that in a future life he would be a golf pro who would instruct others in that sport.

Anyway, Dave was my first personal coach. Unpaid. He volunteered himself. And his targeted pointers made a difference in my results at the free throw line.

My greatest moment was sinking four free throws in overtime in a three-overtime upset of vaunted Santa Barbara High, which featured future Laker Don Ford, a 6'8" monster who averaged 28 points a game. We held him to, I think, 14 points, which was a major reason we, a lowly fifth-place Scorpions squad, upset the former team of Jamaal Wilkes, who the year before led Santa Barbara, with his teammate Ford, to the semis of the CIF Southern Section's 4A championships, the highest level.

All of this is to say that the Vikings' quarterback, Cole Dimich, through three games seems like he may have a concentration issue, as well.

His passing is effective at times, but he just seems to be missing by that much in many of his throws. Occasionally, he'll throw a wobbler. But most of the time he throws a good ball.

Cole, an athletic young man who also starts in left field for Coach Gary Frank's baseball team, can throw on the run. He runs with the ball well, as shown by his rushing touchdowns in the season opener against Montgomery and in a disappointing loss before a home crowd to Country Day Sept. 9.

Dimich has his Dave Goethel in the person of Matt Morrison, his head coach, who was a quarterback in his playing days at Francis Parker. (Morrison had his own QB whisperer, his father John, who was his head coach at the private school.)

Morrison seems patient, he talks calmly to his players, and he is trying everything at his disposal to spring the Vikings' offense from the doldrums it has experienced the first three games of the Morrison era at La Jolla.

Another thing in Dimich's favor is his coach believes in him. Otherwise, he wouldn't be letting him throw 40 times in the game against the Torreys. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior completed 19 of them, many after the game was decided. He should be completing more than half of them.

In prior games, Dimich was 10 for 22 against the Aztecs, suffering first-game jitters and starting sluggishly, then 12 for 27 in a Blastoff loss in the home opener Sept. 2 against Hilltop.

After leading 21-7 in the third quarter against the Lancers and falling behind, the quarterback was unable to lead the Viking offense in a comeback. La Jolla lost narrowly, 24-21.

Jump-starting the offense is a key to the Vikings' success the rest of the season for more reasons than one. First, they need to successfully be able to march down the field on drives and finish, which they have only sporadically been able to do. That depends a lot on Dimich's leadership of the offense.

He needs to eliminate his errors, too, like having more self-assurance and not dropping the ball.

And second, with an opposing quarterback like Country Day's Braxton "Cole" Burmeister just chomping at the bit to get the ball again and direct his team on another drive, La Jolla's offensive unit needs to hold onto the ball and use up minutes--just to keep the ball away from the opponent.

I think Morrison can have the same effect on his quarterback that Dave Goethel had on his pupil back in the day.

It may be only a matter of clearing out all the mental distractions and getting Dimich to focus on each pass and ensuring it goes to the intended receiver.

Putting the ball in spots--we may see the Viking Cole click any time now.