LJ FB: Game story 9/4

Viking QB Ty Tortorice (1) shoots

a short pass to Joseph Crudo (10) for a

21-yard gain and first down on La Jolla's

opening drive against Point Loma Fri., Sept. 4.

The drive led to Ryan Hassankhani's

27-yard field goal. Headhunting for the QB

is the Pointers' Luke Gustafson (99).

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla showed good discipline on both offense and defense in starting its Eastern League and home opener against Point Loma Friday night, Sept. 4.

Deferring at the coin flip to receive the opening kick, sophomore quarterback Ty Tortorice directed a 10-play, 71-yard drive that resulted in Ryan Hassankhani's 27-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 6:12 left in the first quarter.

The drive featured running back Kali Deberry's eight-yard run for a first down early in the possession, followed by Joseph Crudo's similar nine-yard run for another first down. Deberry, a junior, then rushed for 17 yards to the Point Loma 17-yard line to put the Vikings in position for Hassankhani's boot.

A smaller student crowd may have been partially due to the three-day Labor Day Weekend, but the crowd was just warming up with enthusiasm and tension over the visitors' 2-0 record coming in.

To that effect, Pointer QB Ryder Watson could only get one first down--on his pass for 22 yards to receiver Clint Keckeisen--before Point Loma went three-and-out, punting from its own 42.

From there, the tone changed subtly. La Jolla couldn't follow up its initial possession with another successful drive, while in battling for "The Shoe", Coach Ryan Price's offense broke through to score on a 36-yard strike from Watson to junior Tanner Spradling for a 7-3 lead. Point Loma never trailed again, from that time early in the second period.

The dam kind of broke for La Jolla's defense, as Watson led his offense to two more TD's in the second quarter for a 21-3 halftime advantage.

Meanwhile, the Vikings' offense, which only mounted a near-comeback in the season opener two weeks ago at Patrick Henry to lose 35-30, has not been able to generate enough production when it counted in weeks two and three in a loss at Grossmont 24-17 and this one at home, 52-25.

LJ back Joseph Crudo (left) runs for more

bruising yardage between the tackles

in the early part of the first quarter.

Defending is safety Blake Lingard (15)

of Point Loma.