LJ FB: Game story 10/4

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's football team didn't bring its mojo to Scripps Ranch.

Maybe it was the bye-week layoff last week, or maybe the Vikings just stayed up too late this week watching the Padres clobber the Atlanta Braves in two games to move ahead to the Division Series versus the Dodgers.

But nothing seemed to work to get Coach Tyler Roach's team out of the slumber that they sleep-walked through in getting clubbed by host Scripps Ranch, 19-15, Friday night, Oct. 4.

Another excuse La Jolla could use is the Falcons' excitement and spark from Homecoming, which featured a fabulous fireworks show (LJHS Principal Chuck Podhorsky was taking note from the sidelines).

Or maybe we should give credit where credit is due, and that is that Scripps, on taking the opening kickoff, put forth the effort and worked Coach Marlon Gardinera's game plan from the beginning to keep the ball moving--especially via big running back Ryan Stadtherr, who gained 205 yards on 26 carries.

But quarterback Hudson Smith was back from concussion protocol, which he was put into after the Rancho Bernardo loss Sept. 13, and receiver/safety Carson Diehl was healed up and active after missing two games. Neither one of these starters were to blame for the team loss at Scripps Ranch.

But they, like their teammates, shared in the frustration when almost everything in the first half was out of synch, discombobulated--the squad resembling nothing like the Vikes who steamrolled opponents way back on Aug. 23, Aug. 30, and Sept. 6.

The bye week last week seemed to be a blessing, allowing Huddy to get well, and Diehl to do likewise.

Instead, the black-and-red came off the bus, then proceeded to fall on their faces, too much time away from competitive football after the peak excitement of senior Hank Hansen filling in for Smith against Mission Bay in a spectacular, all-hands-on-board smashing of a weak Buc team, 38-7, Sept. 20.

Shades of the hated Dodgers earning bye weeks in the MLB playoffs, then suffering early exits twice, including the beat-down the Padres applied to them two years ago in October madness. But these guys are the home team, so what happened?

Then we find out the Falcons didn't play for not one but two weeks, as they had their bye week and they took a forfeit instead of a completed game.

Two bright spots happened in the second and third periods. Hansen had a catch-and-run for a long gain of 31 yards midway through the second quarter, leading to a TD reception by Andre Mclees Walker.

The second was a trademark leaping Carson interception early in the third quarter, with coaches yelling, "He's back, he's back." That didn't result in a touchdown.

But the team effort didn't congeal, despite a flurry of scoring in the final quarter, La Jolla coming back to score, down 19-7 with 1:25 left in the game, on Vike Lukas Grismer's 32-yard reception, closing the gap to 19-15 (with Diehl's two-point reception).

Julian Zavala's squib kick diagonally across the field failed to be captured by on-rushing kick coverage players with 32 seconds left, and the clock ran out despite a penalty on Scripps for too many players on the field.

The storied rivalry between the two schools, including Max Smith's incredible intercepting of a hiked ball on the Falcon side of the line of scrimmage, leading to a La Jolla comeback in final moments in a game before the COVID era, thudded on Friday night. It was not pretty, despite efforts by the Vikings to rouse themselves in the face of an Eastern League loss.