LJ FB: A further look

By Ed Piper

La Jolla did a lot of good things against University City Nov. 3, the Vikings just didn't do enough of them at the right time.

Before the quintet of touchdowns by the Centurions in the fourth quarter, which changed the City League title showdown from a close game ending the third quarter, 27-24--La Jolla trailing by only three--into a 55-31 rout, quarterback Trevor Scully and the offense accumulated a lot of positive yards and points.

It's often exciting to see junior receiver Michael Wells in the vicinity of the ball, and he didn't disappoint, though his 17-yard touchdown reception came in the middle of the UC onslaught down the stretch.

Miles Matalon showed us what we have been missing, as mentioned previously, with his two long TD catches: 54 yards from Scully's hand in the second quarter, gifting the visitors with a 17-12 lead, then 70 yards early in the fourth quarter (for the 27-24 count).

UC was fueled by a large Senior Night crowd, accompanied by the huge Centurion band. So as Marcel Patterson ran away from the Viking defense for his 281 yards and four touchdowns, and as E'lonte Rico showed his own running skills, the multitude got louder and louder--after each TD, counting loudly in unison push-ups by yell leaders on the track area in front of the home stands up to the number of points their team had.

The crowd support only seemed to energize UC that much more.

It takes a while to do 55 push-ups--and a lot more energy than I ever had--much less count that high.

To the Centurion defense's credit, it kept the wraps on Gabe Solis, Scully's favorite target. The fleet junior accounted for six catches, but he could only get 37 yards on those passes. His longest reception covered 16 yards of artificial real estate.

Scully, himself, did the bulk of the Vikings' ground work. He rolled out and ran on called plays both for 58 yards, putting his team into the scoring column with its first TD in the first quarter.

Head coach Tyler Roach, chatting with Defensive Coordinator Collin Eardley leaning on a pickup outside Edwards Stadium Thursday night after practice during the La Jolla field hockey game, said, "We found that's what Trevor likes to do. So we said, 'Okay, go ahead and do it.' We set up some plays designed for him to run."

La Jolla's running backs have pretty much struggled all season. Zach Garcia carried 11 times for 34 yards. Greg Nelson II was inserted later, carrying three times for negligible yardage. Even sophomore Jack Wiese got an opportunity late in the game, with three carries.

Back in the air, senior Johnathan O'Neal, a leader on the defense, had four receptions for 41 yards. Israel Sandoval took a pass 22 yards in a nice gain.

It was on defense where the red and black piled up some pretty numbers, despite the loss. After all, La Jolla isn't done for the season, playing host to Mar Vista (also 5-5 overall) in a CIF Division 3 first-round playoff game Fri., Nov. 10 (a school holiday for Veteran's Day). Eardley's defense is a big reason for that.

In updated statistics, O'Neal made 11 stops, six of those solo. Kenny Hayden, enjoying life as a linebacker, had eight tackles, three unassisted. Max Smith recorded 11 tackles, two of those solo plus a fumble recovery.

Tucker Jacobs, team co-captain with O'Neal, made eight stops, one a solo. Solis had five tackles, three of those unassisted, while industrious Abdul Sinjab also had five, including two solo.