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.