Photos by Ed Piper
You could feel the energy of the two opposing quarterbacks. Mira Mesa's Tyson Line, 6'3", 225, was literally trying to will his team's way back into the game--after an early 21-7 La Jolla lead--and then after the Vikings went up, 41-21, ending the third quarter.
On the other side, La Jolla QB Jackson Diehl was at the height of his powers. He just did it in a silkier way: The senior ran for the first score; passed to Hank "Triple H" Hansen for the second; then ran for another TD starting the second quarter.
Jackson ran for two more touchdowns before the third quarter even got old.
La Jolla, with its potent offense directed by Diehl and solid defense behind Sawyer Moseley and manic tackler Wyatt "Boz" Boczanowski, was clearly the superior force.
But QB Line and his Marauder teammates made things interesting, extending the hosts on Homecoming to the one-and-a-half-minute mark at the end of the fourth quarter, scoring on Line's short pass to receiver Chris Brown to make the scoreboard read 48-42, before an onside kick was secured by the Vikings' Jett Thomas and their gas finally ran out.
LJ Coach Tyler Roach's squad won their opening Eastern League game, with Point Loma re-scheduled for a Thursday night game at PLHS Oct. 5 to follow.
By Ed Piper
In a show of team solidarity, and befitting senior Kirra Fisk's long record of service to the La Jolla program, she and sophomore Chiara Dailey crossed the finish line together in 18 minutes, 45 seconds to lead the Eastern League Cluster #1, as they call it, in cross country Thurs., Sept. 28, at Morley Field.
It was a 3.11-mile course, and equally-dedicated Daphne Mayer, Fisk's running mate in so many meets, came in third in the varsity girls match in 19:39. The Vikings girls dominated, as their low score of 25 led second-place OLP, which scored 34 points; Coronado, 70; San Diego High, 111; and finally, Crawford, 130.
Putting the "team" in the event, sophomore Lily Mebust placed 10th in 21:36. Fellow 10th-grader Hannah Aalaei finished 12th in 21:53. Senior Natalie Pong was 15th, 22:25. Junior Mary Way came in 17th, 22:38.
In a stirring boys JV race prior to the two "varsity" races (girls cross country has one level), the Vikings' Leo Souza, a junior, came in second, just behind leader Owen Marcinkowski of St. Augustine, both recording a time of 18:42 on the over-hill-over-dale course winding around Morley. Souza's teammates were cheering and calling out his name as he made a valiant effort, with only a small gap between the two top-finishers at the end.
By Ed Piper
"E-Mart" has been delivering throughout the Vikings' first five games, no matter what the health or well-being of the offense is.
Evan Martin, a senior captain, is the returning kicker/punter for La Jolla, coached by Kevin Hurt, himself not a bad punter for Ole Miss back in the day.
Way back in week two of the season, Martin delivered a second-quarter field goal that put La Jolla further up, 10-2, over Scripps Ranch--key points in an eventual 17-15 win that went right down to the last play, lineman Sawyer Moseley and safety Ryan Kestler making a stop on the one-yard line.
There are other key moments. Martin's consistency on kickoffs--blasting them into the end zone for touchbacks that opponents can't return--is a major plus.
"E-Mart" (which teammates call out to him during games) is 12 for 14 on PAT's, two for two on field goals, including the one referenced above.
By Ed Piper
Mira Mesa, La Jolla's opponent at Homecoming Fri., Sept. 28, beat its other rival, Scripps Ranch, 17-7, on Sept. 16 at Scripps.
That's probably the highlight of the Fall for the Marauders, who are 2-3 heading into their Eastern League opener with the Vikings, who are 3-2 and coming off a gutsy 14-7 win at Mission Bay Sept. 15.
LJHS Coach Tyler Roach's squad is thrilled about the health of quarterback Jackson Diehl, who came back from a pounding by El Capitan's defense in week two--sitting out the next game against Rancho Bernardo, a second straight loss, in week three--to help stabilize his fellow Vikings in the win over the Buccaneers.
The Diehl brothers, Jackson and Carson, are re-creating neighborhood ball like they used to play in the backyard together. And the solution on the elder brother's hurt left ankle seemed to be just add more padding and more tape to secure it against nefarious tackling intended to slow Jackson down. The hoof didn't seem to be an issue at Mission Bay, despite the tough, defensive nature of the low-scoring game.
Mira Mesa won't come in smiling. With the Homecoming activities swirling around the Vikings, it will be important for Roach's players to stay focused on the game and not get distracted with side issues.
For the Marauders, two receivers are piling up yardage on passes from senior quarterback Tyson Line, senior Chris Brown, 5'11", 150, and junior Amari Sanders, respectively, with 24 catches for 412 yards, the latter with 17 receptions for 360 yards.
Line, for his part, is both accurate and mobile. He's good-sized, at 6'3", 195 pounds. He is completing 62 percent of his passes. On the ground, he has carried 33 times, which is more than any other back, totaling 174 yards. Max San Agustin, only a sophomore, leads Mira Mesa with 202 yards rushing on 24 carries.
Senior Danny Underwood is close behind with 183 yards on 30 carries.
On defense, senior safety Patrick Reyes leads Mira Mesa with 27 tackles (17 solo).
Photos by Ed Piper
