LJ FB: Zach, Trevor on the ground

Quarterback Trevor Scully throws
to receivers in warm-ups before
the week-two tilt against
Country Day.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Running back Zach Garcia and quarterback Trevor Scully fulfilled Coach Tyler Roach's wishes before the game to "get the running game going" in week two of the season at Country Day.

Garcia, a 172-pound senior, was featured several times in the Vikings' opening drive, and came back to carry the ball as the game went on.

Scully, also a senior, exhibited the same ability to elude tacklers and gain positive yardage on the ground as he did later in La Jolla's season opener a week before in a loss to Hilltop.

Garcia, putting in his internship time as a junior, sitting behind senior backs, carried the perfect number of seven times on La Jolla's first drive, including his touchdown punch-in from the half-yard line with 5:10 elapsed in the first quarter at LJCDS.

On a drive that began on the Viking 25, on 2nd-and10, Garcia ran left for just under 10 yards, shy of a first down. After teammate Greg Nelson II carried the ball three yards for a first down, Roach called Garcia's number 24 again, but he was stopped for no gain.

Fast forward six plays on the drive, the situation now 2nd-and-10 on the Torrey 30 after some Scully pass completions, Zach went up the middle for three yards. Two plays later, he got the call four straight times, picking up five yards, seven, two, then the TD.

His "best run of the year", a reporter noted on his notepad, was a 1st-and-goal from the 10, when the senior kept his legs churning and pounded his way for seven yards of turf.

He later had a 12-yard run to the left, his favored side of the field, at the end of the first quarter. The Vikings had to punt on that drive.

But in the second quarter, with the game now tied 7-7, the 5'9" back broke up the middle from the Viking 11 for 56 yards, to the Country Day 33. After a reception by Gabe Solis for 28 yards to the five, Garcia carried twice, setting up Michael Wells' TD reception one yard out for a 14-7 lead. There were 13 seconds left in the half. LJCDS was unable to score before the horn.

The rushing performance by Garcia offered some redemption after his fumble on the Vikings' first possession the week before, leading to a quick second Hilltop TD and a 14-0 hole in the game's first nine minutes.

Scully, meanwhile, wearing Viking red and black after a junior season in Mission Bay gear, performed a nice scramble on the opening drive at LJCDS. It came on 3rd-and-7 for a first down.

Trevor added a second keeper, a "wow" play this time, but it was called back by a flag for blocking in the back.

In the third quarter, Scully ran for 13 yards on 3rd and 20, before zeroing in on Wells again for a monster 57-yard catch-and-run for a TD. La Jolla led permanently, 20-14.

The 5'11" Scully, who has shown a lot of heart so far, had to run the ball three times in four plays himself late in the fourth quarter as La Jolla struggled successfully to keep the lead. He ran for seven yards up the middle on a 3rd-and-7, then two more up the middle on 4th-and-2 from the Country Day 37. Two plays later, he went left for a loss of two yards.

Two plays later, he kept the ball again for a keeper before Roach called timeout with just over three minutes left in the game.