Saturday, October 26, 2024

LJ FB 20, Point Loma 34

Viking QB Hudson Smith (1)
scrambles as he looks for
a receiving target
in the first half.
(Photo by Ed Piper)


By Ed Piper

La Jolla outscored a highly-motivated Point Loma team in the second half, 20-13, but the Vikings could not overcome a stiff Pointer attack that built a 21-0 halftime lead Fri., Oct. 25.

La Jolla lost the dual, 34-20, in a crushing late-season encounter at Homecoming.

Pointer head coach Ryan Price, La Jolla's Defensive Coordinator last season in its Eastern League-winning campaign, had his first-year squad determined and hitting on all cylinders as the offense shocked the pink-attired Homecoming crowd with a strike from quarterback Ryder Watson to receiver Romeo Carter covering 66 yards for an early 7-0 lead.

Price's primed team struck again opening the second quarter with a rushing TD, a short run by Canon Ogden, and the La Jolla side was reeling with false starts and frustration resulting in a series of unsportsmanlike flags.

The third score by Point Loma in the opening half came on an easy pass from Watson to senior Dylan Upjohn, open on the left side of the end zone as coverage broke down. The Pointers led, 21-0.

In the third quarter, La Jolla scored on a 25-yard passing play from QB Hudson Smith to Hank Hansen. But the visitors answered right back with a Watson QB keeper to build a 27-7 lead. 

Another exchange of touchdowns by each team, including a 10-yard run by Viking Aidan "Carolina" McGill, finished out the period with the Pointers leading, 33-14, and disappointing a big crowd present for the Homecoming fireworks show during the halftime festivities.

The final score was an eight-yard pass for La Jolla. "The Boot", symbolizing the rivalry between the two schools since 1970--with football between the two teams dating back much earlier than that--went home with Price and his team after residing on the LJHS campus.

Oddly, no students walked out on the field at intermission when some Homecoming Court names were announced. An alumna from a graduating class many decades ago was announced and she waved to the crowd from a decorated golf cart on the Edwards Stadium track. Fireworks set off on the tennis courts followed for a spectacular conclusion to the festivities.

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