LJ FB 38, Mission Bay 7 - Eastern League opener

Viking fill-in QB Hank Hansen (4) fires a pass

to receiver Nico Bardaro (not in view)

on third-and-seven from the La Jolla 46-yard line.

Two plays later, Hansen ran from 37 yards out

for his second TD of the opening half for a 30-0 lead.  

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Ignited by a 90-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff by Ryan Kestler, La Jolla opened up an offensive barrage in the first half that buried poor Mission Bay in the two teams' Eastern League opener Fri., Sept. 20. The score was 30-0 at the half.

The final was Vikings 38, Buccaneers 7.

Fill-in quarterback Hank Hansen--substituting for starting QB Hudson Smith, who is in the concussion protocol from banging his head the previous week at Rancho Bernardo--called his own number twice for TD's of 13, then 37 yards.

That pair of touchdowns in the second quarter were sandwiched with an earlier rushing TD by hard-driving Aidan McGill, around a 30-yard field goal by Julian Zavala to begin the second quarter.

The theme of the first half, in fact, for Coach Tyler Roach's offense was all-hands-on-deck: Besides Hansen, the athletic senior, directing the attack, and Zavala, a fellow senior, redeeming himself with the field goal, linebacker Leed Smoole took a handoff for a jet sweep.

Receiver Kai Fukuda did the same, just as he did against Rancho Bernardo a week previous.

Nico Bardaro, the sophomore, caught back-to-back Hansen aerials in the middle on the last drive of the half.

The question facing Roach at halftime, as garbage time continued, was who should I try at a different position to see what we got?

Hansen, after a week of preparing at quarterback after suddenly being thrust into Smith's position in the middle of the Bronco game, looked solid. Asked what he thought of Hank's skills, Miles Scully, watching from the sidelines, the father of two former LJHS quarterbacks, said, "He has a good arm. He just has to work on his accuracy."

Glorious skies 20 minutes before kickoff.