LJ FB 49, UC 8



Now you see him, now you don't:

Alex Dockery (3) appears to be

shut off by UC's Gavin

Rasmussen (upper left), then spin

move frees him for 52-yard gain.

(Photos by Ed Piper, Jr.)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

On a night on which 24 seniors were recognized before their last regular season home game, the La Jolla High football team put together a first half in which all their work of the past several weeks came together with a peaking level of confidence to take a 35-0 lead over visiting University City Fri., Oct. 28.

The Vikings went on to add two more touchdowns in the third quarter to rout the struggling Centurions, 49-8. Running back Alex Dockery stood out by scoring four TD's, three rushing and one on a spectacular punt return.

Who would have thought that the Vikings, the Little Engine that Could but an underdog in several previous games, would lead their rival down Highway 52 by the threshold that makes a running clock for the second half possible?

And who have dreamed that Coach Matt Morrison's first Viking team, 2-4 only three weeks ago, would finish the night 5-4, with a 2-1 record in the topsy-turvy City League?

Dockery, one of the two dozen seniors recognized on Senior Night in front of a modest home crowd, took his rushing game to another level in this contest. He went beyond his previous juking-and-jiving to show off a complete spin move that circled him past a Centurion defender for a 52-yard gain in the first quarter.

That advanced the ball to the UC 8-yard line, where the 5'8" powerpack, whose little brother and dad play for a Pop Warner title Sat., took the ball over from four yards out after a penalty, for a TD and a 21-0 lead to end the opening quarter.

Another outstanding play by the inspired speedster was a one-handed grab of a Cole Dimich pass with Alex's left arm completely extended to the side. He didn't even bobble the catch, curling it in as he was pushed out of bounds in front of the La Jolla bench.

The "Dock" play that probably caused the most head-scratching in the first half was a punt return in which he seemed caught in the clutches of a defender right after the ball came down, then somehow he exited left and, lo and behold, took the ball 55 yards upfield to the house for another TD. The Vikings, before a delirious and disbelieving crowd, now led 28-0 after Tai Nguyen's PAT kick, still with almost five minutes left in the half.

La Jolla scored on its first possession of the game, with Daniel McColl taking a reception 18 yards into the end zone. Nguyen made his first kick.

On their second possession, the Vikings parlayed a fake punt into a nine-yard gain by McColl on fourth-and-four. Johann Ponsaty plunged over from one yard out for the TD. Nguyen's PAT put the hosts up 14-0.

La Jolla padded its lead near the end of the second quarter with Dockery's third touchdown after Buster Hoy stripped the UC kick returner and recovered the ball on the Centurion 32-yard line. The edge was 35-0.

On defense, Ross Martin and Tino Mendez had sacks of UC sophomore quarterback Casey Granfors. McColl was also highly visible.

At halftime, seniors on the Viking cheer squad were also recognized, after a performance on the field by the LJHS band under teacher Michael Fiedler and a cheer and routine by Advisor Cindee Russell's cheer squad.

City League FB

By Ed Piper, Jr.

Before October 21, it looked like University City was in the driver's seat for the City League football championship.

But the Centurions, despite holding a sizeable points-for/points-against differential, got derailed by a powerful licking from Patrick Henry, 31-14, on their own turf Friday night.

UC only trailed 21-14 after three quarters. But the Patriots were able to post two touchdowns in the closing quarter.

The Centurions are enjoying their "golden age" the past two seasons under new head coach Ryan Price. It's difficult to say they're experiencing a resurgence, because they never had a "surge" to build back up to.

While UC has been brought back to the pack at 2-1 in the league (4-4 overall), Henry moves up to 3-0 in the City League. Hoover is winless, 0-2, 0-8 overall, at the bottom of the heap. Serra is 1-2, 3-5 overall.

As La Jolla head coach Matt Morrison told his troops leading 33-0 at halftime Friday night, they had the rest of the season to play for. (He was admonishing them to continue to be good sportsmen, after two Kearny players got kicked out of the JV game and Kearny varsity players were talking trash as their deficit before the Vikings escalated.)

MaxPreps.com incorrectly lists La Jolla as 1-2 in league, 4-6 overall, because the Patrick Henry game is listed twice on the schedule page. Morrison's team is 1-1 in league, 4-5 overall.

Before the debacle Friday, UC had a 93-30 points for/against advantage in league play. Henry was at 43-16.

That dramatically changes with the beatdown: UC now sports numbers of 107-61, Henry 74-50. It must be a quiet weekend in University City.

LJ FB 46, Kearny 0

Receiver Patricio Castillejos takes a screen pass

from Cole Dimich 21 yards near the end of the first

half against Kearny. The gain set up a 34-yard

field goal by Carsten Fehlan to give the Vikings

a 26-0 lead. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

The football gods were good to La Jolla for a second straight week, giving the Vikings another malleable opponent they could score against early and often, to put away Kearny in a 46-0 whitewashing on the Komets' own home turf Fri., Oct. 21.

Senior back Daniel McColl--shut out in a 32-0 Homecoming drubbing of Serra a week ago--celebrated his 18th birthday by running for two touchdowns.

And Johann Ponsaty, declaring before the game, "I'm going to be playing a lot of running back tonight," rushed for the Vikings' opening TD, then bookended it by taking a blocked punt into the end zone to conclude the first half. By that time, the visitors led, 33-0.

Quarterback Cole Dimich showed consistency again by leading the offense on four successful drives down the field, though he did succumb to his early-season bugaboo, a fumble. The 6-foot senior, who ran for a TD in the first quarter, led a textbook drive from the Vikings' 44 when it still mattered, just prior to his rushing touchdown, for a 10-0 lead with only two minutes elapsed.

On that score, senior Tai Nguyen kicked a 21-yard field goal. La Jolla added a new feature by also having a second kicker, sophomore Carsten Fehlan, punch through a field goal, his coming late in the second quarter from 34 yards, just barely dropping over the right corner of the goalposts. In his other life, Fehlan quarterbacks the JV team, which walloped Kearny in the preliminary game Friday.

An error-prone Komet team, defending Central League champions, gifted La Jolla with several turnovers while seemingly confusing their holidays, Halloween for Christmas--though their stumbling performance must have been scary to their sparse fans. On Kearny's first possession, they fumbled a punt, giving La Jolla the ball on the four-yard line. Ponsaty ran the ball over on the first play.

Then a fumbled kick return at the end of the first quarter put the ball at the 16. Dimich scampered over three plays later for the score. The Kearny errors went on and on.

The game was played on a quiet night in Clairemont, with small crowds on each side. La Jolla is now 4-5 overall after the nonleague game, 1-1 in the City League. Kearny drops to 2-6 overall, 1-1 in the Central League.

Ballad of the (non)Thin Man

If you look closely, Daniel McColl

(running the ball for the Vikings) is not

in sharp focus. The referee behind him

in is better focus.

By Ed Piper, Jr.

First quarter, Serra already has the ball after a La Jolla possession. I can't get my camera to work--each time I hit the shutter, the camera freezes and I have to turn it off to clear it. Click, freeze again. I'm juggling my monopod (stick to support my heavy camera), the camera, my notepad and pen for keeping play-by-play as the Homecoming game unfolds.

But it's not unfolding too well. I'm already behind in writing down the plays that occurred in the Vikings' first possession. I look up at one point, and La Jolla running back Alex Dockery is streaking by me near the sideline. I hurriedly aim my camera and take a shot. I get that one.

It occurs to me: This happened just after I got the shutter to unfreeze. That took several minutes, plays continuing, people on the sideline--a ton of people with cameras, I guess because of Homecoming--running around. Hard to find a spot to plant my monopod and take shots of the action.

I remembered that I had had this particular malfunction occur before. I tried to think through how to check what it was. I pushed the shutter repeatedly, having to clear it each time. I pressed "Menu" and began to look through the lists of functions on the device. Finally, I thought to look at the button on the top left of the body--in my hurry, with the National Anthem, following the introduction of coaches for the new Wall of Honor, that following ribbon-cutting done by senior Sadie Lee officially dedicating the new sports facilities, I had mistakenly set the shutter on "Mup", mirror up, which was causing my problems.

Now back to the game. Only the lens, my trusty 70-200 mm zoom, wasn't focusing automatically. I still don't know what was going on with that. It happens, though rarely. What I usually do is turn off the camera, remove the lens, and screw it back on. That can reset the contacts that interface between the camera body and lens.

But in addition, I was now juggling something else with the other items: my new La Jolla Village News press pass, in addition to my CIF media pass. I wondered from the moment my editor had it made for me if this would happen. Two small clasps on the neck strap, but nothing for the clasps to dig into. So one clasp kept slipping, the strap falling onto my chest.

Meanwhile, the Vikings were scoring on their first two possessions. Unheard of, this year. I was missing most of it.

I manually focused my autofocus lens. I took a shot of Daniel McColl lumbering downfield with one of his many great runs. When I got home later, the shot was not completely focused. A lost shot.

Finally, the autofocus began functioning properly and my confidence returned a little. It had already been a wild afternoon, like I said, with a 5 p.m. tennis pavilion ceremony. In between, besides taking shots of all the other ceremonies, I had squeaked in a quick interview at midfield of the opposing head coach, Dru Smith. He was totally cool.

Earlier, I had walked down the new ramp into Edwards Stadium from Fay Ave., and right there in front of me were some of the Viking seniors I wanted to get pregame comments from: Ross Martin, Nick Hammel (they're both quotable), Andrew Mitchell, Christophe Gish (his mom, manning the pregame food table for the varsity, told me I should interview him, too; I was obedient).

Then, three minutes left in the opening quarter, Paula Conway, athletic director, nicely sidled up to me while I was taking game shots and said, "I have a favor to ask. From the 'Tangle in the Tank', we're going to present a check for the Susan Komen fund after the first quarter. Can you take photos?" I said yes. So, hurrying past the bench to my camera case holding my 24-70 mm lens, I got it and was putting it on my camera--monopod having to come off, 70-200 lens having to come off--as the announcement for the check was being made between quarters. Paula watched as I came back down the sideline to the 50-yard line. Got it.

Finally, as the second quarter got rolling, I got rolling, too, and taking some good action shots of the Viking runners who were having a field day against poor Serra, a 1-6 team: Alex Dockery, McColl, even quarterback Cole Dimich, who really had a breakout game for his rushing abilities.

It was quite a Homecoming night: Four events, tennis pavilion dedication, ribbon-cutting on the newly-improved sports complex, introduction of Wall of Honor coach inductees, last but not least the football game. The falling press pass went into my pocket. The camera autofocus came out of its slump. And former San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory had the quote of the day: "Illegally," he said, after he was introduced for spearheading the tennis pavilion project with the words, "Jack McGrory, the man known for moving Fay Ave. so the (Coggan) pool could get built."

LJ FB: Dock, Dimich, McColl, Castillejos

"Dock" tries a new wrinkle, his jump between

two defenders, Minnich (19) and Sanford.

(Photo by Ed Piper, Jr.)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

On a night on which they were loosed to run free, La Jolla's leg men were able to show off their wares in an entertaining evening before an appreciative Homecoming crowd at newly-renovated Edwards Field.

Besides quarterback Cole Dimich's shining plays--three rushing touchdowns and one in the air to fellow senior Alex Dockery, capped off by a 60-yard run to paydirt in the third quarter--"Dock", as he is affectionately known by his teammates, shows spurts and gasps through space that befuddled Serra's defense and provided some new wrinkles to the running back's repertoire.

On the second-to-last play of the first quarter, with the Vikings leading the Q's 13-0, the 5'8" speedster--who relishes practice and keeps up the chatter with his teammates, whether in practice or game--tried a new move: Faced with two defenders, both much bigger than him, he took to the air to try to jump through the gap between them.

Dustin Minnich (19), listed at 196 pounds, and Ryen Sanford carry more mass than Dockery. So he resorted to another tactic to try to open some real estate. He gained five yards on the play.

Besides that vivid move, the hard-working senior completed a 69-yard pass play from Dimich for the Vikings' second score in the opening quarter. He added a five-yard TD run in the second quarter.

Dimich showed talent and poise in doing his best work on the ground from his quarterback position. He and his teammate provided all the points, except for two PAT kicks that served as window dressing. Cole was also carrying his usual abilities as kicker for Coach Matt Morrison's squad.

Daniel McColl, also given leeway to run by the porous Conquistador defense, checked in early and often, and the home crowd--which hadn't seen as much of his reputed talents this season as they would have liked--got their fill. McColl didn't score a touchdown, but he plowed a lot of ground in rushing yardage.

Another offensive plug was yet another senior, Patricio Castillejos, who had some nice receptions from Dimich. Castillejos is a feel-good story, enjoying his final season after missing all of last season with an ACL tear.

LJ FB 32, Serra 0

Alex Dockery shone on Homecoming night, including

on this 27-yard punt return in the second quarter that

set up his own TD minutes later. Vikings led, 20-0.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

Seniors Alex Dockery and Cole Dimich provided all the scoring as La Jolla's football team, renovating its won-lost record to a more respectable 3-5, clobbered lowly Serra 32-0 amid Homecoming and ribbon-cutting ceremonies for newly renovated sports facilities Fri., Oct. 14.

The Vikings, on the attack from the opening kickoff, immediately recovered an onside kick, then scored on their first two possessions behind Dimich's eight-yard quarterback keeper and a spectacular 69-yard pass play from Dimich to Dockery before a large crowd that included 30 inductees onto the new coaches' Wall of Honor.

Earlier in the afternoon, the new tennis pavilion was unveiled next to the playing field as former San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory, well-known for "moving Fay Street so the pool could go in", introduced coaching honoree Maggie Mulkins and the son of Russ Lanthorne--also known as Russ Lanthorne--an LJHS tennis coaching legend who is deceased.

"Illegally," McGrory laughed during the ceremony on his successful maneuver to clear a way so that Coggan Family Pool could be constructed.

But tears at the junior Lanthorne's memories of his father and mother were soon converted to cheers as La Jolla's current football contingent avenged a disappointing 20-18 loss at Patrick Henry last week in the Vikings' first-ever game in the new City League.

Big Daniel McColl excited the home crowd by dragging multiple defenders with him on several plays to pile up yardage for the offense. Actually, his first time getting his hands on the ball came on a 27-yard pass in the flat from Dimich on La Jolla's second play from scrimmage after the successful onside kick to open the game.

Serra QB Joaquin Quintana-McKinney (12), as seen on

this pass pressure, never had a chance against

an effective La Jolla defense.

 



That set up Cole's short run up the middle for the Vikings' first score. Determined to generate offensive sparks, Coach Matt Morrison--in his first Homecoming at La Jolla--then called a fake kick, but Dimich's pass for two points fell incomplete. It was 6-0 in favor of the hosts.

On first-and-10 from their own 31 on their next possession, "Dock"--enjoying a juking night of fancy moves that drew oohs and aahs from the assembled--raced up the near sideline for his 69-yard catch-and-run. La Jolla led 13-0.

Serra barely put up resistance, struggling to a 1-6 record and sitting at the bottom of the City League pile with pitiful Hoover, both without wins in league play. Tiny back Brian Pratt was the most active, but the Q's weren't much of a threat to score the whole night, even after a dominant 20-0 halftime lead by La Jolla pretty much spelled garbage time for the second half.

Dockery's five-yard scamper in the second quarter increased the bulge from 13 points to the halftime margin. Then, in the third quarter, Dimich ran 60 yards for one touchdown, and a short distance for another, but it didn't really matter by then.

At halftime, class floats mounted on golf carts--to protect the new track surface--and class princes and princesses preceded the presentation of the Homecoming court.

LJ BB: Farley commits to Harvard

By Ed Piper, Jr.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, at 8:39 a.m. Cambridge, Massachusetts time, 5:39 a.m. San Diego time, it was announced that La Jolla's Reed Farley has committed to play basketball at Harvard next year.

Ryan Silver, head of the Earl Watson Elite AAU program, stated, "Farley is one of the most impressive young men I have ever been around, 4.8 student/34 ACT, very caring kid, tremendous character, knock down shooter, was instrumental in our EWE 9-0 performance and winning Fab 48. Farley will do great things at Harvard and in life."

The Viking senior, a mainstay of Coach Paul Baranowski's team, has had the goal of enrolling in and playing for Harvard for some time. During the past summer, in the midst of showcase events, he mentioned the names of other universities that might come into the picture, including Yale. But the Crimson of Harvard won out.

Farley, 6'4", has outstanding leaping ability and has been used by Baranowski to defend against taller opponents. His usual position is as floor general at point guard, where his court vision, passing, outside shooting, and driving are all utilized. His noticeable poise on the court has a calming effect on his teammates.

La Jolla will probably return to action in preseason games in November, as they did last year. Then the regular season of tournament and other preleague games will commence at the beginning of December, before league play after the turn of the year.

The Vikings will be playing in a newly configured Eastern League for the first time, after competing for most of the school's history in the Western League.

Former Coach Bill Reeves, included on the Wall of Honor that was unveiled at Homecoming Fri., Oct. 14, coached La Jolla for seven years in the 60's. His teams won five CIF titles in those seven years. "There were no divisions back then. We played everyone," said Reeves at the tennis pavilion dedication prior to the football game.