LJ FB: Defense applies 'scorched earth' approach

Vikings linebacker Jack Wiese stands
with Mom for his Senior Night photo.
(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

An observer of La Jolla's last-second victory over Christian November 1 for the Eastern League title said, "He didn't even seen him coming." The non-seeing one was Gabriel Krug, talented quarterback for the visiting Patriots.

Viking linebacker Max Smith was the author of the blind-side. The sack came on a second-and-eight, the game tied, with Christian driving to take the lead with four minutes left.

Krug, big and athletic, a good runner and adequate passer, by then had seen plenty of Smith and his mate in the game of "Attack the QB", Jack Wiese.

The sack didn't stop the drive, but it did set Christian's attack back. It was part of the whole, relentless onslaught the Vikings applied toward negating Patriot skill and lifting up La Jolla's chances, which the Vikings finally took advantage in the last moments.

Smith, besides scoring the Vikings' TD to trail 7-6 early in the third quarter, was absolutely brutal on another sack a possession earlier, this one a tackle for loss (TFL) of Krug of nine yards, and Christian's fourth time turning the ball over on downs. Just an unheard-of statistic in previous LJ-Christian match-ups.

L.T. Shimp, outside linebacker, pauses
in pregame Senior Night activities
for a photo.

On the latter, the Pats needed eight on a fourth down, and ending up going the other direction by one more yard than that.

This reporter has Smith for one more sack, on the same possession as the TFL. The bagging came on the first play of the possession.


After the game, Smith, celebrating with friends and photos being snapped, was hung with the moniker, "Public Health Hazard": "Yeah, for Christian's quarterback. He is still looking around to see if you're coming."

Wiese was plain scary in his intrusions into the Patriot backfield. In snap statistics after the game, he was credited with 12 solo tackles. That, like's Smith's numbers, doesn't communicate the body-jolting quality of his hits.

He had a sack with 8:49 left in the second quarter, when he dropped Krug five yards behind the line of scrimmage on a second-and-10 from Christian's own 49.

Two plays later, after a Wiese-Dirk Germon stop, the Patriots turned the ball over on downs for the second time with 7:22 left in the first half.

Dirk Germon, outside linebacker (center)

Moises Hernandez, getting into the act, also had a sack.

LT Shimp, who was breathing fire, was marked down for nine solo tackles. He was on a personal manhunt from the beginning.

La Jolla's defense was particularly amped up due to last year's 49-0 loss on Christian's home field, because Diego and Gabe Solis both suffered triple collarbone fractures and had to be carted away.

Texted Diego in a reply to a reporter's question the morning of the game, "We want revenge for last year's game."

LJ FB: Bale kickin' it

Devin Bale (88), Viking kicker/punter, huddles up
with Head Coach Tyler Roach (far left foreground)
and teammates prior to opening kickoff
on Senior Night.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla punter Devin Bale received the long snap with both hands, paused for a second, realized he had time, then in a relaxed but firm manner booted the ball well down field.

That sequence of actions has happened many times this season for the Viking punter/kicker, his skill and confidence growing. But this particular instance came during his team's pressure-packed battle with Christian for an outright title in the Eastern League.

The kick boomed 44 yards, not the only punt of that distance for Bales in the contest.

Of course, he had the sureness and honor of kicking the winning PAT with 12 seconds left, after Finn Rice's touchdown reception from Jackson Stratton, for a 20-19 victory.

He knows the focus that is placed on a kicker or punter. He watched the Patriots' place-kicker miss his final PAT attempt, which left the door open for La Jolla to come back in the final 38 seconds.

But, here the focus came on the 6'2" junior's particular skills punting the ball.

"I think Devin could end up being a better punter than place-kicker," said Kevin Hurt, the team kicking/punting coach, who kicked at Ole Miss during his playing days.

"I told him, 'Don't play baseball (in the spring), and I'll come by the school three days a week and work with him.

"He could end up being a D1 (Division 1 college) prospect."

Devin's mother is aware of that offer. "When Devin was in the sixth grade, he couldn't run to first base, then turn to go to second base. His coach tried to get him to turn and go. He couldn't.

"It turned out he had a condition that didn't allow him to pull his feet back up. He had surgery on both sides, they placed pins in, and ever since then he has been able to kick a ball."

Reported back to his kicking coach, this history was news to Hurt. He was surprised.

Bale plays soccer in the winter for the Vikings, so that is pretty much a done deal. He started as a sophomore on defense. He is slated to return to his position in that sport as soon as the football team finishes its run in the upcoming playoffs.

In the win over Christian for the title, Bale had five punts for a total of 160 yards, an average of 32 yards a punt.

Against University City the week before, though admittedly the pressure wasn't on late in that contest, Devin dropped a punt from midfield inside the 10, getting a perfect roll to the 5 to really put the erratic UC offense in a hole to start its next drive.

Bale had four kickoffs against the Patriots, covering a total of 172 yards for an average boot off the tee of 43 yards.

Another member of the family has played end, as Bale does for Tyler Roach's Vikings. But no one has been a kicker or punter, according to his mom. For the season, Bale has 14 receptions for 155 yards, with his longest catch going for 28 yards.

LJ FB: Patriot doubt

Members of the Viking offense view video
right after the fact on the sidelines
against Christian.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

On the Christian High sideline November 1, a Patriot player was overheard during the first half, saying, "If we lose this game..."

Christian, which had vanquished La Jolla the past three years, usually by large margins, entered the game with doubts, and voiced them during the contest for the league championship. If Christian (2-1 in the Eastern League going in) won at La Jolla (3-0), it would share the title.

Meanwhile, in the other camp, the Max Smith-Jack Wiese ethic ruled. Smith, who has starred for the Vikings since he started as an inauspicious long-snapper his freshman year two seasons ago, is confident in his abilities and reflects that assurance in what he vocalizes.

Wiese, on the other hand, maintains silence for the most part, not even responding to a reporter's text during the week leading up to the finale.

Both approaches work, as La Jolla's first league title in 24 years attests.

There is a different mentality, a different approach. Credit third-year Head Coach Tyler Roach and his staff, as well. Defensive Coordinator Charles Bussey deserves more credit, and by name, for the mastery his unit has displayed this season.

As a reporter repeatedly told anyone who would listen during the on-field celebration after the Vikings' last-second 20-19 win over the Patriots, "I've covered La Jolla football through 15 mostly bad seasons. This 16th one is unbelievable. This is La Jolla football?"

There was incredulous tone in the sportswriter's voice. He wasn't the only one. Students attending the game who poured out onto the field seemed to be in utter delirium, but in utter shock as well.

Now, with a week off, the Vikings can take that Smith-Wiese mentality into the second round of the Division 3 playoffs November 15.

LJ FB: Co-championship not enough

LJHS lineman Cyrus Varnum with his
aunt, LJ softball coach Andrea Denham,
and his uncle. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla High, with its 39-21 win at University City October 25 in the second-to-last game of the regular season, secured at least a shared championship with Christian High in the Eastern League.

But Viking players weren't buying. Throughout the week leading up to their final league game against Christian Fri., Nov. 1, they repeatedly said they wanted to defeat the Patriots and take home sole possession of the title.

"We're glad to have (the co-championship)," said Diego Solis, the junior receiver. "But we want the whole thing." That came on Monday morning, before school.

Then, Tuesday afternoon, after school let out at 3:16 p.m., Solis and other team members walked past the LJHS tennis patio, where the Viking girls tennis team were playing their first-round CIF match. "No, we want the whole thing," said more than one player as they were congratulated on their assured part of the crown. They weren't settling for less.

The same scene was repeated Wednesday after school in the same location. By then, the Viking girls had won their first-round match, and were well on their way to another win in the quarterfinals. (They eventually made it to the title match Friday, where they lost to Torrey Pines 75-75 on a tiebreaker.)

Cyrus Varnum, the big senior lineman, shook his head as he walked by. "No, we want it all," he called out as he headed to the eastern gate of campus off Rushville Street. The football team had its usual evening practice scheduled that night.

No one from the team spoke about the co-championship, except in Solis' lone text Monday morning. The theme the entire week for the Viking footballers was "Beat Christian". Partial measures would not suffice.

The thinking, the mantra, paid off in a 20-19 win for the sole league championship, the school's first since 1995.

LJ FB 20, Christian 19 - Eastern League champions

Receiver Finn Rice talks on PPR after his
17-yard catch that tied the game
with 12 seconds left.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Matt Oliver, head coach of the Christian High football team, posed a question before their game at La Jolla Fri., Nov. 1 to end the regular season: "I don't know why they've gotten so much better this year." Oliver, in his 21st year as head coach, was referring to last year's shellacking of the Vikings, 49-0.

The visiting coach soon had his answer, as La Jolla's stout defense held the private school, which offers scholarships, to a single touchdown in the first half.

The Vikings' hard hitting countered Christian's own approach, which led to two La Jolla players sustaining triple collarbone fractures in last year's game, lending an especially emotional layer to the encounter.

The hosts, playing on Senior Night for sole possession of the Eastern League title, finally scored to begin the third quarter on Max Smith's 53-yard breakaway run to make the score 7-6. La Jolla botched the point-after snap to trail by one.

With the stakes high, Patriots running back Nate Stine pushed across a touchdown with 38 seconds left in the game for a 19-13 lead. Christian's freshman kicker, a lefty, hit the right upright with the PAT, having it bounce away, setting the stage for a single-possession decision.

In an almost unbelievable chain of events, Viking quarterback Jackson Stratton, who had been inconsistent the whole game, found receiver Diego Solis for a 24-yard reception to the Christian 17.

Then, with no timeouts left, Stratton delivered a strike in the end zone to Finn Rice for a touchdown with 12 seconds left. Rice cradled the pass in both arms as he fell in the end zone. Devin Bale kicked the extra point, and La Jolla held off Christian for a 20-19 win and its first championship since 1995.

Afterward, in the wild title celebration, when students stormed out of the stands to join the players on the field, Rice could hardly remember the details of his winning catch.

But Solis, who had to go up in the air to catch his pass from Stratton, said, "I had to adjust to the ball (because it was a little off line). I saw I had room, and ran."

But Diego quickly went down with a tackle, saving precious seconds with Coach Tyler Roach having no remaining timeouts.

Stratton, waiting for the line to form, quickly spiked the ball to kill the clock. The scoreboard clock, at the opposite end of Edwards Stadium, stopped at 12 seconds.

On second-and-10, the sophomore's first passing attempt fell untouched as a La Jolla receiver took a tumble short of the ball.

The next play went to Rice, the 5'9" senior, for the 17-yard game-winner. After the student body poured over the railing onto the field and team members drenched Roach, Rice, coming out of the frantic celebration of La Jolla's first title in a quarter century, wore a bleary-eyed look--his first TD reception of the season.

Solis, with his older brother Gabe, since graduated, went down with the collarbone fracture in last year's contest played at Granite Hills High. The win was especially gratifying for him.

LJ FB: Number three seed gets a bye

The Viking defense (black and red)
militates against the Christian offense
late in the second quarter.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

After its stunning 20-19 victory over Christian Friday night, Nov. 1, La Jolla received the third seed in the Division 3 playoffs and a bye in the first round Fri., Nov. 8.

"We just found out that Kearny beat San Diego, so we could move up to the third seed," said a drenched Tyler Roach, elated head coach of the Vikings after a water bath from players in the postgame celebration on the field.

That, in fact, did happen, La Jolla (4-0, 6-4 overall) in the Eastern League) ascending from its previous spot at number four.

Max Smith, Jack Wiese, Dirk Germon and gang will await the winner of Mater Dei Catholic-Imperial at Mater Dei in the opening round. The Vikings will play host in a home game at Edwards Stadium Nov. 15 to the victor of that contest. Mater Dei goes in as the sixth seed, Imperial number 11.

The seedings are now based on the CIF's formula, after coaches voted prior to this season to no longer use MaxPreps' rankings.

Scripps Ranch, which narrowly defeated La Jolla during the regular season, is the top seed. Hilltop, a scrimmage opponent before week one, lands in the second spot, with San Diego fourth. All four top seeds pass on to the second round with first-week byes.

CIF did a new thing this postseason: The Open Division has been scaled down to four teams. After the initial five seasons of Open Division play, selecting the top eight teams from Division 1 for an elite competition, coaches became disenchanted with the prospect of going into the Open Division playoffs as the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth seed, likely to end their season losing.

The top four seeds in Division 1 this fall include Steele Canyon, Lincoln, Mission Hills, and Madison.

Programs wanted a chance, instead, to land a Division 1 championship, since a title is a title to participating schools and their students. So, with only the top four teams participating in the Open Division (Helix, Cathedral Catholic, Carlsbad, and St. Augustine), the next four will go to the Division 1 playoffs and a chance to take home a championship banner.

After the last-second win over Christian High, Viking talk had no time for conjecture over the playoffs. People thrilled at La Jolla's first league championship since 1995 were too busy celebrating in a wild event on the turf to even think about what comes next.

Students prematurely spilled out of the stands on the home side onto the track, then the field, with time still remaining. Administrators had to shoo them back toward the stands. Principal Chuck Podhorsky and Athletic Director Paula Conway hurriedly moved students back from the field, as did Bob Allen, coach and former Athletic Director.

LJ FB: CIF Record Book

La Jolla High football in CIF history

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Dec. 12, 1994 - second in Division III - lost in Finals to USDHS, 34-0; Coach Dick Huddleston

Dec. 13, 1993 - Division III champs - defeated St. Augustine 14-6 in Finals; Coach Dick Huddleston

Dec. 14, 1991 - second in Division 2A - lost in Finals to El Camino, 29-7; Coach Dick Huddleston

Dec. 6, 1980 - second in Division 2A - lost in Finals to Lincoln Prep, 39-20; Coach Gene Edwards

CIF PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1991 - E.J. Watson - Offense
1968 - Scott Boughton

MOST POINTS SCORED IN A GAME, BOTH TEAMS

Dec. 7, 1991 - La Jolla 50, San Pasqual 49 (10th highest total in CIF history)
Aug. 28, 2015 - La Jolla 52, Country Day 42 (14th highest total)

MOST CONSECUTIVE WINS

La Jolla, 1992-1994 - 21 (7th longest streak in CIF history)

MOST YARDS PASSING IN A GAME

Collin Rugg - 563 - vs. Fallbrook Sept. 12, 2014 (3rd highest total in history)

MOST PASS RECEPTIONS IN A SEASON

Carlton O'Neal - 76 - 2014 (tied for 13th highest total)