LJ FB: Players reflect

Ilias Benbatoul (right), back-up kicker for the Vikings,
participates in a team-building event
at La Jolla Shores Thurs., Nov. 7.
Quarterback coach Jerome Watson
is in the red Vikings camp.
(Photo by Kevin Hurt)

By Ed Piper

"It's fantastic," Ilias Benbatoul, reserve kicker, reacted when asked Tues., Nov. 5, what he thought of his Viking football team winning the school's first league title since 1995.

Asked how he thought he would look back in the future on the title season, the trilingual senior said, "Like the other ones, historic." The place-kicker speaks his parents' native Moroccan, though he was born here; English; as well as Spanish.

"Spanish is kind of a mix with Moroccan," Benbatoul informed a reporter. "(When I was a child) my parents spoke only Moroccan to me, so that I could learn it."

Asked what preschool was like at Torrey Pines, speaking Moroccan, he said, "I spoke (enough) English (to manage). I got it from TV."

Phillip Pacleb, a running back recently returned from injury, said, "It's think it's pretty cool (about the title). It's pretty cool because we put so much hard work in during the offseason."

"We have a special group here," said linebacker Jack Wiese thoughtfully. "I expected a lot out of them, and they gave a lot.

"It's definitely an amazing feeling."

The senior's father passed away last summer. It was gently inquired about. "I definitely have more motivation," the high-volume tackler said, "because I have something to play for, someone to dedicate it to."