By Ed Piper
It was a shootout at the OK Corral, as La Jolla met a winless Mira Mesa (0-2 in the Eastern League, 0-7 overall) and began trading touchdowns in a wild first half in front of a moderate Marauder home crowd and an incredible 200-student band, which performed magnificently at halftime.
Coach Tyler Roach's Vikings scored first, to take a 7-0 lead against a defense as leaky as San Diego in the winter floods we experienced earlier in the year, on a run by workhorse and game MVP, running back Aidan McGill.
But then Mira Mesa came back to score less than two minutes later--La Jolla having its own problems stopping anybody, with several key figures injured and sitting on the sidelines.
Carson Diehl, the All-CIF choice as a sophomore, came to play, scoring three plays later on the first of his two patented leaping, stretching receptions, La Jolla leading now 14-7.
Coach Aurelio Morales' blue-and-gold answered in only four plays. The score, like inflation, was mounting fast, 14-14.
Eventually, seeing the shootout quality of the game, an observer saw "the wheels come off the wagon" after the visitors upped the ante to 21-14 on receiver Kai Fukuda's 29-yard play.
And we were still in the first quarter!
This was going to be a night like no other. "It depends on who has the ball at the end of the game," an anonymous commenter contributed. That's sure what it looked like, on a temperate October night, the day very warm in Mira Mesa, the night moderating some of the evening chill that followed.
Who would have cared? Within half a minute of elapsed time at the end of the first period, leading into the second, Diehl, who led the county in interceptions last year with nine, picked off one of Ramona-transfer Parker Rhea's aerials--Morales said his eligibility was granted the day before the Marauders' opening game--and a Viking punt was blocked.
You're getting the message: scoring by the two squads' offenses was nearly unlimited. Neither defense could put a dent into it.
Finally, fast-forward to late in the third quarter--after that fabulous halftime show populated by such a big, well-practiced Sapphire Band (that's what they call it)--with a 35-35 tie. Vike freshman Aiden Farrell, he of the culinary beret back in preseason photos, ran the ball in for a TD and a 42-35 advantage with 3:07 left (he being featured on this night for his breakout performance).
La Jolla gained separation a quarter later, 2:19 on the clock, on "Carolina" McGill's 49-yard run for 49-35 to clinch the game.
The run was evocative of Aidan's powerful skills: he dragged several would-be tacklers with him, he broke away, then along the right edge of the field he toe-tapped next to the sideline to stay in bounds, covering half the grid. Incredible.
That play alone, with all the Vikings' misalignments and continued search to recapture the magic they played with in the first three games of the season, put an exclamation on the evening.
Diehl went out after an injury in the second half (he had already missed the last two games before the bye Sept. 27). Hank Hansen, quarterback-fill-in deluxe in week five against Mission Bay and normally an H-back, sprained his ankle just before the start of the game in warm-ups and sat out.
We could list the walking wounded who also didn't play: running back/linebacker Alex "Figgie" Figueiredo, outside linebacker Leed Smoole, cornerback Galo Sanchez, and back-up center Evan Martinson. This sport beats people up.
The Vikings are 2-1 in the Eastern League with two games to play. Mira Mesa, having a tough, tough year, is 0-2 in league and 0-7 overall. Unthinkable for the Mira Mesans.
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