LJ FB: Doing what he does best

Senior Viking receiver/running back

Makai Smith before Friday's

game, not too shy about showing

off his physique. LJ's roster

lists him as 6'0", 175 pounds.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

With the Vikings trailing Del Norte 24-7 early in the third quarter Fri., Sept. 10, Makai Smith provided a glimpse of what he does naturally to the enormous home crowd at the 4S Ranch school.

La Jolla High starting quarterback Jackson Stratton had already exited the game at halftime due to injury.

Justin Scully, converted into a fulltime running back during the Vikings' first three games of the 2021 season, was in at QB in the third quarter. On a second down and less than 10 yards to go, following Makai's own carry forward, Scully lofted a pass toward the right sideline inside the 20.

As the ball approached, Smith went up the ladder against his Nighthawk defender. Somehow he popped the ball up in the air, then Makai lunged and caught the ball before it fell to the turf.

Scully ran over on the next play for a TD tightening the score to 24-13, then a two-point conversion edged Coach Tyler Roach's team closer, at 24-15. The time on the clock: 8:45 left in the third quarter.

None of the photographers right near the play grabbed a photo of Smith's spectacular catch. "I was too busy pulling back" as he watched the play a few feet away, said one of the students, who was taking photos for La Jolla's side.

I was there, too. I didn't react to try to put my tiny camera up and take a shot. I was mesmerized by the play, not atypical for Makai in the couple of years we've grown accustomed to some of his leaping heroics.

Later, one of the Del Norte dads working the chains on the visitors' side of the field asked me about the catch. I said, "That's what Makai does. He's an acrobat." The father was quite appreciative of what the tap/tumble/catch entailed physically for one to pull it off.

Which is a good time to update the record: Makai had been known two years ago, as a sophomore, to be a pain in the neck in the classroom sometimes. I am a retired classroom teacher of high school students, so I get what behavior can mean when you're trying to conduct class and one clown is continually acting up--"playing the fool" in the parlance of my former school settings.

Jane Medrano, the football team's Academic Advisor, recently said, "Makai has completely turned it around." He no longer is known for "playing the fool".

I asked Makai about Medrano's statement before Friday night's game, as he was waiting to get taped by the school trainer. He acknowledged his former behavior. "I was immature," he said. As a teacher, I admire the young man. More fun to watch, making the acrobatic moves, when I know that he is now a good citizen and student in the classroom during the week.