LJ FB 19, Torrey Pines 43 - Season opener

Carson Diehl (13) leaps backward

in a spectacular advance against

tackler Cyrus Alexander (13)

of Torrey Pines for a 9-yard reception

midway through the first quarter.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Last fall, La Jolla wanted to pick a fight with Torrey Pines, a much bigger football program.

Head coach Tyler Roach, in his desire to "up" the Vikings' game, as in his other eight seasons, scheduled the Falcons for the second game of the 2024 slate, and they beat Torrey 21-14 during a hot streak of five games beginning the year.

Well, the payback from the angry Falcons came a year later, when the home-and-home agreement led La Jolla to travel to their Del Mar campus to face the inheritors of the besmirched bunch that dropped the game to the "lowly" Vikings the year before.

Quarterback Blake Miller--only a sophomore then who didn't start in that loss the year before--and his offense played a near-perfect first half Friday night, August 22, in Torrey's dominant 43-19 performance to open the season.

Before that 2024 match-up, the two schools hadn't played each other since 1992, 32 years prior. The red-and-gold won that contest going away, 32-0.

Back to the future: Roach had plenty of tricks up his sleeve, and was banking on his own speed-up, spread offense behind returning senior quarterback Huddy Smith.

The Falcon band, of all things, got flagged twice for playing while Smith was trying to audibly count the cadences for his offense. The first was a warning, the second a 15-yard penalty.

Torrey Pines, enjoying home field advantage, also brought as much crowd noise as it could in an attempt to intimidate the fewer, smaller Vikings, who dared step on their campus. Hundreds of students, standing much of the first half, singing and chanting to amplified music, occupied the student section on the home side of Ed Burke Stadium.

Miller, the Falcon QB, distributed to backs Dominic Rocha and Sonny Villegas for 181 yards rushing. In the air, the Del Mar "wild bunch" was just as dangerous, piling up 179 yards off Miller's arm to five different receivers.

Finally getting up off the mat after numerous mistakes and miscues, the nervous Vikings got on the scoreboard with a 60-yard scoring screen pass to sophomore Aiden Farrell, achieving a 20-7 mark late in the second quarter.

Farrell, being scouted early by Palomar head coach Noel Phillips, twisted and zig-zagged around would-be tacklers, as he first headed up the middle, then arced way over toward the right sideline on the way to paydirt.

Huddy Smith, who over the past year and two summers has showed a lot of promise and productivity for Roach, who also serves as La Jolla's Offensive Coordinator, connected with fellow senior Carson Diehl. Diehl, a commit to SDSU, finished with 11 receptions for 161 yards. Smith was 19 for 28 for 274 yards.

The Vikings blew a big opportunity to get back in the game with 9:22 left in the third quarter, when a fumble turned the ball back over to Torrey.

Later that quarter, much of the Falcon student body had exited to their cars and other options for a Friday night.