LJ FB: Spark

By Ed Piper

With La Jolla trailing 7-0 starting the second half, Viking linebacker Max Smith spied a pass from Scripps Ranch quarterback Luke Durkin coming toward his territory, caught it with space to spare, and began wending his way up the left sideline.

Smith, who has provided several a few highlights like this in La Jolla's first five games, evaded would-be tacklers right in front of his team's bench. He ran the ball all the way back, 75 yards down field.

The only thing that caused a delay in the Vikings' touchdown celebration was a flag way back upfield. The flag was pulled by the officials, and Coach Tyler Roach's team flew into joy as the two teams were tied, 7-7, after Devin Bale's kick.

The pick six came on second-and-eight at the Falcons' 28-yard line. There were four minutes gone in the third quarter when Smith, who had two interceptions of Bishop's QB Ty Buchner within five plays in the season opener, collected in the aerial and headed to paydirt.

The only problem was, La Jolla's offense, running on a low throttle, failed to score a TD the entire game.

Yes, Scripps Ranch's defense is good. Two-points-allowed-per-game good. And with normally active receivers Makai Smith, Bales, Cooper McNally, Luke Brunette--Diego Solis sidelined with an ankle injury most of the game--not able to get in the mix, Smith's lone score couldn't stand up to the 17 points the hosts (5-0) put up.

"We learned against Del Norte (when La Jolla went in with back-to-back wins in weeks two and three) that we can be humbled," said Roach the day before the Falcons game. "We have to reset each week." The result in that match-up with the extremely well-prepared Nighthawks was a 14-7 loss.

At Scripps, you expected a burst from the red and black, who have been playing so well on defense, and tantalizing all of us on offense with shades of success: Jackson Stratton's live arm, Solis' energizing cameos at quarterback and receiver, Makai Smith's play-making ability, Max Smith's "what's he going to do next?" potential.

It ended kind of flat. The way the La Jolla defense goes about warm-ups before games, it's like watching a demolition crew quietly setting up its work, knowing they have the means and the firepower to detonate buildings in a display that's going to stun everyone.

Max, Jack Wiese, Dirk Gershon, and their minions--Alessandro Demoreno is contributing, you know Finn Rice is working so hard back there at safety, Grady Mitchell is becoming a monster of tackles, LT Shimp is growing, Aiden Trudeau is coming on more and more--they're all keeping the Vikings in every game, no blowouts this season. It's really remarkable. A special time for the defense.