La Jolla's 24-17 loss at Mira Mesa Friday night, Oct. 28--and I do mean "night"--the game, with an injury interlude, lasted to the bloody end with the Vikings' flailing, frustrated attempts to tie or win the game until 10:16 p.m.--was an exercise in fortitude and endurance not only for the players but for fans as well.
The drawn-out, grueling contest, which was scoreless at the end of one quarter and stood at only 7-3 in the Marauders' favor at halftime, tested both teams' skills and ability to hang in there and try to secure the triumph, which will probably result in the victors' top-four seeding for next Friday's playoffs. (CIF brackets have not yet been posted at the time of this writing Sat. morning.)
Jackson Diehl, the Vikings' junior quarterback, who has had his moments this year and has piled up over 1,600 yards passing, was agile in hitting his receivers as Coach Tyler Roach employed early passes in the flat to ignite the offense.
Diehl targeted prime receptor Ryan Weinberg on early-and-often aerials. Justin Scully, he of playing both ways, on defense as well as on offense, bruised his way to plenty more yards that will be spoken of after he graduates next June in an almost reverent tone. But neither team could finish. Mira Mesa deposited the only touchdown of the first half with Chris Brown's goal-line-to-goal-line 100-yard kickoff return with 6:02 left in the second quarter.
La Jolla was limited to Evan Martin's deadly accurate field goal for a short-lived 3-0 lead the play before Brown's taking the ball to the house.
And the dangers of football reared their head again in the downing of Viking Robert Buckley. Paramedics taped him with duct tape onto their emergency board, strapping him in to take him to the hospital after individuals signaled "thumbs up" on his condition. With the score 24-17 with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter at 9:25 p.m.--after three and a half hours of football so far--Buckley was blindsided on a hit as Mira Mesa's Aiden Watts returned a punt for an apparent TD, which was called back due to the personal foul against the La Jolla defensive back.
The paramedics' action apparently was a precaution for the young athlete's condition. Family members came down from the stands to console him. Play resumed almost a half hour later, at 9:51 p.m. That foreboded for a late, late night on this 11th week of high school football.
La Jolla, as a result of the tough-luck loss, may face a trip to the Imperial Valley for a first-round Division 2 playoff game.
No comments:
Post a Comment