By Ed Piper
For recent La Jolla High football dates, I tried a regimen of In-N-Out burgers. The results were so-so, at best.
The "regimen" started after the Santa Fe Christian game August 31 in week three of the season at home. Hungry, having expended a lot of energy in writing down the play-by-play on my notepad as I patrolled the sideline for my game story, I looked forward to one of my favorite hamburgers.
There was a celebratory spirit leaving Edwards Field because of the brave drive senior quarterback Carsten Fehlan led in the last 1:58 resulting in a touchdown that made a close game, despite the 16-14 loss to the Eagles, who quite frankly usually send out a more talented team (with all the advantages a private school has for attracting talent).
The Vikings played at Del Norte Sept. 7 in week 4. Two missed kicks in waning seconds kept a sloppy La Jolla effort against the "Little Train That Could" Nighthawks from being redeemed. I drove right across the 15 freeway at the other end of Camino Del Norte in Rancho Bernardo, and it was a party atmosphere to soothe my soul: students and cheerleaders from both Del Norte and Rancho Bernardo were present, and despite the narrow loss, I felt picked up by the energy and activity.
I tried to charge my phone, which was on zero, in my car in the parking lot while my order was being prepared. Then I wolfed down a "Protein Style" (lettuce wrap), filling the bill.
The game had been marked by an annual Military Night observance by Del Norte, with the Nighthawks players posing with the veterans and families of deceased veterans whose names adorned each of the backs of their football jerseys. It was very moving. Going to one of my favorite hamburger places completed, for me, some of the feeling I had at taking photos of some of the participants at the game close-up.
The next week, Sept. 14, the Vikings hosted Scripps Ranch in week 5. I went to In-N-Out on Damon Ave. in Pacific Beach before and after the game--a little excessive, don't you think? I told my cashier before the game what I was doing. He thought it was pretty energetic.
After the game, a narrow 13-10 win on a miracle play by Max Smith to take the ball away from the Falcons in the "victory" formation in the last minute, In-N-Out seemed really fitting.
This week, I jumped the gun on game Friday and used a Carl's Jr. coupon that came in the big pile of junk mail we get each week to buy not two, but four big hamburgers for myself and my wife. I bought two Angus Six Dollar Thick Burgers. I also purchased two Big Carl burgers. I ate one of each on the way home Thursday evening, Sept. 27. (That was a mess on my lap.) The two-patty Big Carl was the better--super moist, with cheese, tomato, lettuce, as the woman at the clerk informed me. Luscious.
My wife ate part of the other Big Carl that night. For lunch while substitute-teaching on game day, my wife put the second Six Dollar Thick Burger in my soft pouch. I have to be honest, by game time, I didn't want to see another hamburger any time soon. My wife got some ham and cheese sliders at the market for my pregame drive to Morse, where the Vikings lost a wooly game, 54-25, to some spectacular running backs for the Tigers.
So, I went 1-2 on the In-N-Out front, 0-1 with the Carl's Jr. day-ahead dietetic plan. Back to quesadillas on a whole wheat tortilla (a current healthy favorite)? Maybe eat more buns? (All the In-N-Out's were Protein Style with lettuce wrap to cut down on carbohydrates. My doctor would be pleased.)
Saturday, September 29, 2018
LJ FB: Stats
Morse 54, La Jolla 25
Fri., Sept. 28, 2018
Eastern League opener
at Morse High School
Overnight Statistics
OFFENSE
Passing
Diego Solis 13-32 258 yards; 2 TD's, 0 interceptions; long 77 yards
Receiving
Gabe Solis 7-81 yards, 1 TD; long 35 yards
Evan Brown 2-53 yards; long 29 yards
Cooper McNally 1-10 yards
Max Smith 2-7 yards
Rushing
Diego Solis 12 carries for 44 yards; long 13 yards
Max Smith 8 carries for 12 yards
Gabe Solis 3 carries for -1 yard
Greg Nelson 1 carry for -26 yards
Morse 45 carries for 538 yards; 8 TD's; long 62 yards
TOTALS
Total plays LJ 63, Morse 49
Total yards LJ 261, Morse 542
Passing yards LJ 228, Morse 11
Rushing yards LJ 3, Morse 531
First downs LJ 26, Morse 20
Turnovers LJ 1, Morse 1
Interceptions LJ 0, Morse 0
Penalties LJ 4, Morse 10
Penalty yards LJ 31, Morse 73
DEFENSE
Tackles (solos-assists-total)
Jack Wiese 7-0-7
Langston Aron 5-0-5
Max Smith 5-0-5
Finn Rice 3-0-3
Evan Brown 3-0-3
Aiden Trudeau 3-0-3; 1 sack
Greg Nelson 3-0-3
Kelton Coburn 2-0-2
Matthew Hammel 1-0-1
61 1-0-1
Alessandro Demoreno 1-0-1
Fri., Sept. 28, 2018
Eastern League opener
at Morse High School
Overnight Statistics
OFFENSE
Passing
Diego Solis 13-32 258 yards; 2 TD's, 0 interceptions; long 77 yards
Receiving
Gabe Solis 7-81 yards, 1 TD; long 35 yards
Evan Brown 2-53 yards; long 29 yards
Cooper McNally 1-10 yards
Max Smith 2-7 yards
Rushing
Diego Solis 12 carries for 44 yards; long 13 yards
Max Smith 8 carries for 12 yards
Gabe Solis 3 carries for -1 yard
Greg Nelson 1 carry for -26 yards
Morse 45 carries for 538 yards; 8 TD's; long 62 yards
TOTALS
Total plays LJ 63, Morse 49
Total yards LJ 261, Morse 542
Passing yards LJ 228, Morse 11
Rushing yards LJ 3, Morse 531
First downs LJ 26, Morse 20
Turnovers LJ 1, Morse 1
Interceptions LJ 0, Morse 0
Penalties LJ 4, Morse 10
Penalty yards LJ 31, Morse 73
DEFENSE
Tackles (solos-assists-total)
Jack Wiese 7-0-7
Langston Aron 5-0-5
Max Smith 5-0-5
Finn Rice 3-0-3
Evan Brown 3-0-3
Aiden Trudeau 3-0-3; 1 sack
Greg Nelson 3-0-3
Kelton Coburn 2-0-2
Matthew Hammel 1-0-1
61 1-0-1
Alessandro Demoreno 1-0-1
LJ FB 25, Morse 54
 |
| Vikings QB Diego Solis confers with assistant coach Collin Eardley in the second quarter. (Photos by Ed Piper) |
La Jolla's football team battled a bevy of Morse speedsters in the back field and the Vikings' own mistakes in falling to a 54-25 Homecoming decision for the Tigers in opening Eastern League play at the southeast San Diego school Friday night, Sept. 28.
Isiah Thompson led Morse's rushers--who piled up 531 yards on the ground--as the senior back scored four touchdowns against the Vikings' earnest but overworked defense. The Tigers only needed 11 yards in passing yardage on the whole night.
"We're going to run the ball 40 times, and pass 10 times," said home coach Tracy McNair before the game, which boded for a lot of activity for the La Jolla defense.
Another backfield weapon for Morse was 10.4 100-meter sprinter Shamar Martin, a verbal commit to UCLA, who played both ways. The 5'9" speed demon reeled off runs of 40 and 60 yards to put his talents on display.
La Jolla wanted to duel with their opponents' athleticism, sending receiver Gabe Solis on a 35-yard scamper in the second half. The Vikings' only scoring in the first half came on senior soccer kicker Nick Goehler's three booming field goals of 42, 32, and 47 yards, respectively.
"No, I haven't kicked one more than 47 yards before," said the smiling 6'2" soccer midfielder after his best kick. He expressed an interest in getting more field goals. But by then the Viking offense behind quarterback Diego Solis was able to put points on the board, scoring two TD's in the latter half.
The visitors led off scoring in the game on Goehler's first field goal, a 42-yarder only two minutes into the league opener. La Jolla went up, 3-0.
The Vikings trailed at halftime, 14-9.
 |
| La Jolla's defense (white jerseys) try to hang in there in the fourth quarter against Morse's 531 rushing yards. |
Receiver Evan Brown grabbed a pass from the left-handed Diego and ran 77 yards for the first La Jolla touchdown early in the third quarter.
The Solis brothers, Diego a sophomore, Gabe a senior, connected for the other LJ TD with 10:52 left in the game, bringing the Vikings within nine points, 34-25, after Diego's two-point conversion pass to Noah Marquez.
If the officials hadn't added two points for Morse after a fumbled two-point conversion attempt, that would have made the game a single-possession contest. Instead, they ruled the Tigers recovered in the end zone for a successful PAT.
Fumbles killed La Jolla's attempts to capitalize on Morse's mistakes, multiple ones in the option-play offense with pitches not being secured more than once.
The Vikings fall to 0-1 in Eastern League play, 2-4 overall. Morse moves to 1-0, 4-2.
Friday, September 28, 2018
LJ b water polo: Perspective
By Ed Piper
Local high school water polo is kind of like class society in England: You're either born to privilege, so to speak, or you're not.
There are the haves and the have-nots.
La Jolla, Bishop's, Coronado, Cathedral, Carlsbad, and Vista mainly populate the upper crust of boys water polo society in San Diego.
Their high school programs are undergirded and fed by the local water polo clubs: Tom Atwell coaches La Jolla, Doug Peabody at Bishop's coaches Shores, and so forth.
When high school games start, the conclusion is often foreseen, if not foregone. A power-six team is going to have to collapse pretty badly to lose to most of the lower-echelon teams.
That's doesn't mean to say that there's no competition, or that interlopers don't put a scare into the better teams, as if they had no chance to win.
But, for example, Thursday, Sept. 27, at Coggan Pool at La Jolla High, Canyon Crest Academy--though missing a player or two through the flu "the whole team got" at the America's Finest City Tournament the previous weekend, in the words of their coach--jumped out to leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 into the second half of the second quarter against the Vikings.
But that was as far as the "old college try" took the visiting Ravens. Cole Atwell, he of the seven goals (he scored 28 in four games in the Scott Roche Tournament in Menlo earlier in the season), and company emerged from their slumber to blow CCA out, 12-5, and no one acted surprised.
Conditioning and mental approach help. But ultimately, ability combines with good coaching and conditioning to decrease the potential of an "off" day or chance.
Water polo has its own closed community. There are many devoted, card-carrying members of this somewhat secret society that has its own way of speaking and somewhat jaded manner of regarding outsiders.
In no other sport I've seen is there such a level of conditioning, with 5:15 a.m. conditioning workouts three days a week not uncommon during the season in addition to the regular team practices in the afternoon after school.
It takes a while for a person not brought up in the water polo world to begin to learn the strategy, much less the words used to describe the game: two-meter, 1-2 side, 4-5 side, etc.
What's more, even to those who are long-time acolytes, well-versed in the nuances of the sport, the officials' calls during matches are often baffling. I've begun to get an idea that contact off the ball is less allowed than contact on the ball, whereas in basketball, for instance, it is just the reverse--fouling someone with the ball affects the game more and is whistled more.
There are rituals teams develop, too, like La Jolla's robe that goes to the best worker during the three-week "Hell" period of preseason training.
What goes on in the rusty, older team room next to Coggan Pool is a mystery to me, having never ventured inside. The closest I got was aiming my tiny point-and-shoot camera at Viking players and friends inside. That was a while ago.
I'm curious what La Jolla's "mental skills" coach does with team members. He probably would talk, if I say hi. I haven't brought up his craft with him yet. I see him at other sports, too--football?
Local high school water polo is kind of like class society in England: You're either born to privilege, so to speak, or you're not.
There are the haves and the have-nots.
La Jolla, Bishop's, Coronado, Cathedral, Carlsbad, and Vista mainly populate the upper crust of boys water polo society in San Diego.
Their high school programs are undergirded and fed by the local water polo clubs: Tom Atwell coaches La Jolla, Doug Peabody at Bishop's coaches Shores, and so forth.
When high school games start, the conclusion is often foreseen, if not foregone. A power-six team is going to have to collapse pretty badly to lose to most of the lower-echelon teams.
That's doesn't mean to say that there's no competition, or that interlopers don't put a scare into the better teams, as if they had no chance to win.
But, for example, Thursday, Sept. 27, at Coggan Pool at La Jolla High, Canyon Crest Academy--though missing a player or two through the flu "the whole team got" at the America's Finest City Tournament the previous weekend, in the words of their coach--jumped out to leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 into the second half of the second quarter against the Vikings.
But that was as far as the "old college try" took the visiting Ravens. Cole Atwell, he of the seven goals (he scored 28 in four games in the Scott Roche Tournament in Menlo earlier in the season), and company emerged from their slumber to blow CCA out, 12-5, and no one acted surprised.
Conditioning and mental approach help. But ultimately, ability combines with good coaching and conditioning to decrease the potential of an "off" day or chance.
Water polo has its own closed community. There are many devoted, card-carrying members of this somewhat secret society that has its own way of speaking and somewhat jaded manner of regarding outsiders.
In no other sport I've seen is there such a level of conditioning, with 5:15 a.m. conditioning workouts three days a week not uncommon during the season in addition to the regular team practices in the afternoon after school.
It takes a while for a person not brought up in the water polo world to begin to learn the strategy, much less the words used to describe the game: two-meter, 1-2 side, 4-5 side, etc.
What's more, even to those who are long-time acolytes, well-versed in the nuances of the sport, the officials' calls during matches are often baffling. I've begun to get an idea that contact off the ball is less allowed than contact on the ball, whereas in basketball, for instance, it is just the reverse--fouling someone with the ball affects the game more and is whistled more.
There are rituals teams develop, too, like La Jolla's robe that goes to the best worker during the three-week "Hell" period of preseason training.
What goes on in the rusty, older team room next to Coggan Pool is a mystery to me, having never ventured inside. The closest I got was aiming my tiny point-and-shoot camera at Viking players and friends inside. That was a while ago.
I'm curious what La Jolla's "mental skills" coach does with team members. He probably would talk, if I say hi. I haven't brought up his craft with him yet. I see him at other sports, too--football?
* * *
What prompted some of these thoughts was a look at the Power Rankings on the cifsds.org website for the CIF San Diego Section. In three days or so, La Jolla's ranking has moved from 14th to 10th. Some of the teams above the Vikings have several wins but are not known as powerful teams: Valhalla is ranked first, ahead of Cathedral Catholic. There are other teams in the top ten at present that are not elite. Good for them. I hope they last. It makes you think some of the coaches have not reported all their results. And the Power Rankings don't necessarily indicate who's going to end up in the Open Division playoffs, or even the top seeds in the Division 1 bracket come end of the season.
I feel like my view reflects some jadedness--it's heady to be covering a program that has had as much success as La Jolla's.
LJ b water polo: Game report
 |
| Vikings goalie Cole Raulston in his domain. (Photo by Ed Piper) |
Cole Raulston, La Jolla's senior goalie, is still waiting for "big" games.
The All-CIF performer, manning the cage for the Vikings Thurs., Sept. 27, helped lead Coach Tom Atwell's squad to a clear-cut 12-5 win over visiting Canyon Crest Academy after a sluggish start.
"We haven't had any big games yet," said Raulston on the pool deck immediately after the win. "That's what I kind of shoot for."
Senior attack Cole Atwell zipped in seven goals, but it was sophomore Rhys Bugelli and senior two-meter defender Dominic Scurio who started off the Vikings' scoring.
In the early going, the Ravens, not known to be that powerful, not only scored the first goal, but also took a 2-1 lead in the first quarter.
Then, after Bugelli scored another goal late in the first half, Atwell started to warm up, netting the first of his perfect seven goals to send La Jolla into halftime with a 4-3 lead, which the hosts never relinquished.
Senior utility Leo Braga scored the Vikings' sixth goal, which is a good sign for his team, with a need to diversify its attack. La Jolla ran away with the game after that, leading 8-4 at the end of the third quarter, up 12-4 with three minutes left on Atwell's last score.
"We started out kind of slow," said Raulston, who handled the Ravens' shot attempts deftly. "The seniors played (in an early Seniors Game, with flowers presented before and food afterward), so that was good. We picked things up after that."
On one close-in attack, a CCA player approached from the 4-5 side (the right side of the goal as you look at it), and tried to skip the ball under the goalie's left arm. It didn't work. Cole timed it perfectly, put his arm down, and smothered the shot attempt, taking the ball away. What looked like a threat was ended quickly.
The goalie agreed that his team has cooled off a little from its early-season fire. "But we want to pick things up in aiming for the playoffs (which begin Nov. 3)."
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