LJ b water polo 11, Steele Canyon 10 - Open Division Quarterfinals

The Vikings huddle at the end of the first quarter
with Coach Tom Atwell (center foreground)
in their Open Division quarterfinal match.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla, playing a sluggish first half and trailing Steele Canyon by three goals, came to life behind the scoring of junior attackers Alex Brown and Rhys Bugelli to win its Open Division quarterfinal match, 11-10, at Coggan Family Pool Wed., Nov. 6.

"We knew it was a slow start," said captain Quin Ruminski. "We didn't have everything going.

"We took a look at what we were doing, and made some changes," concluded the senior utilityman.

Brown and Bugelli each scored three goals in the second half to reverse a 7-4 deficit into an 11-8 advantage with two and a half minutes left.

The Vikings had to endure a nervous last four seconds after spreading the pool to kill the clock against the Cougars, giving up the ball just before the end.

Steele Canyon wasn't able to get a shot off, much to La Jolla coach Tom Atwell's evident relief.

Fourth-seeded La Jolla fell behind from the outset, 2-0, to a fifth-seeded Steele Canyon that took the momentum early. Brown countered with a goal, before teammate Gavin Olson added another. The first quarter ended 4-2 with the Cougars leading.

A similar slumber stayed with the Vikings in the second period. After they battled back to trail 6-4, the defense allowed Trevor Moore to put a miss back in the net against La Jolla goalie Levi Lentin as time ran out. It had looked like the hosts would only go into halftime trailing by two until the letdown.

From there, though, the Vikings outscored the Cougars 7-1 across the final two quarters for the 11-8 advantage and narrow victory.

They  now move on to the semifinals Tues., Nov. 12, against top-ranked Bishop's, who swamped Coronado 17-7 in the opening game of the four-match evening.

LJ FB: Players reflect

Ilias Benbatoul (right), back-up kicker for the Vikings,
participates in a team-building event
at La Jolla Shores Thurs., Nov. 7.
Quarterback coach Jerome Watson
is in the red Vikings camp.
(Photo by Kevin Hurt)

By Ed Piper

"It's fantastic," Ilias Benbatoul, reserve kicker, reacted when asked Tues., Nov. 5, what he thought of his Viking football team winning the school's first league title since 1995.

Asked how he thought he would look back in the future on the title season, the trilingual senior said, "Like the other ones, historic." The place-kicker speaks his parents' native Moroccan, though he was born here; English; as well as Spanish.

"Spanish is kind of a mix with Moroccan," Benbatoul informed a reporter. "(When I was a child) my parents spoke only Moroccan to me, so that I could learn it."

Asked what preschool was like at Torrey Pines, speaking Moroccan, he said, "I spoke (enough) English (to manage). I got it from TV."

Phillip Pacleb, a running back recently returned from injury, said, "It's think it's pretty cool (about the title). It's pretty cool because we put so much hard work in during the offseason."

"We have a special group here," said linebacker Jack Wiese thoughtfully. "I expected a lot out of them, and they gave a lot.

"It's definitely an amazing feeling."

The senior's father passed away last summer. It was gently inquired about. "I definitely have more motivation," the high-volume tackler said, "because I have something to play for, someone to dedicate it to."

LJ FB history: 'Four more years'

By Ed Piper

Perusing the history of La Jolla High football seasons on partletonsports.com, I see that since the first Viking team is listed in 1924 (the school dates its founding to 1922, as the corner wall at Rushville St. memorializes), no head coach endured more than four seasons until Gene Edwards (1961-1989).

"Looking across the programs, continuity plays a role in the success of a team," said current La Jolla High head coach Tyler Roach, in the midst of completing his third year at the helm with a coveted Eastern League championship, earlier this week.

We were discussing not only the expertise of Roach and his coaching staff, but my observation that, for example, the boys soccer team excelled as soon as head coach Marco Gonzales and assistant coach Victor Zendejas brought some much-needed year-to-year carryover after years of constant coaching turnover.

The stability afforded by the same coaching staff coming back each year resulted in the Viking soccer team winning a CIF title.

Edwards' three-decade reign brought stability and success to the football team, helping establish a culture in which his predecessors, Dick "Hud" Huddleston (8 years, 1990-1997) and Dave Ponsford (11 years, 1998-20008) could continue a similar pattern in miniature.

Roach, after three years as Offensive Coordinator, then returned to LJHS after a year away, taking the reins and instituting a Family Day (this reporter never saw one of those before, in my 16 years of covering La Jolla High), his personality and way of doing things, a flag football league (started this fall), and other aspects. Hopefully, he stays around for a long time. He's a young man, and he has said "Hopefully" to that notion.

I've worked my way back to Coach Harry West, who preceded Edwards in the years 1957-1960 as head football coach. His teams weren't eminently successful, but I have heard his name mentioned. Before that is kind of unknown territory, stretching past anyone's institutional memory that I've encountered.

I wish Partleton had a similar archive of basketball teams. I'll have to look elsewhere for that.

LJ FB annals: Disputed 1938 playoff

By Ed Piper

The Vikings' 1938 football season ended with a disputed playoff game against Calexico left without a winner or a replay.

Such was the state of things (according to partletonsports.com) after La Jolla took the opportunity to play in the so-called "minor league" playoff game (lower level of CIF) at home. LJHS went to a coin flip with Point Loma, both teams ending the Metro League season with 5-1 records, for the right to face Calexico in the playoff.

A game between the two Metro front-runners was considered, but both schools declined, feeling it would hinder the league representative in the playoffs.

In the Calexico game, the contest ended in a 6-6 tie. No official on hand kept track of the number of first downs for each team, a method for breaking ties.

The San Diego Union, the morning paper in the area (there was an afternoon paper also delivered daily, the San Diego Tribune), took a straw vote of reporters and others present. Four said La Jolla prevailed in the number of first downs; the fifth person called it a draw.

With the holidays approaching and the Metro League title still held by both the Vikings and Pointers before the playoffs, the decision to go to a coin flip instead of another game was made.

Curiously, Point Loma won the league championship in both 1936 and 1937, yet declined both years to represent the Metro League in the postseason playoffs.

LJ FB history: Dan Berry, All-CIF run/pass QB

Dan Berry, Viking QB, 1961
(Photo from partletonsports.com)

By Ed Piper

I touched on Dan Berry in another post. It turns out Berry, a southpaw, passed and ran for multitudinous touchdowns in 1961 on his way to being named All-CIF First Team for La Jolla's football team.

The lefty led a fourth quarter rally in which the Vikings scored three touchdowns to come back from a 19-7 deficit against San Diego High and win, 27-19. Berry ran for one TD and passed for two more in the game, La Jolla's first win over the Cavers since 1951. (partletonsports.com)

The Vikes had been pounded in their previous two meetings against SDHS, 57-0 and 59-0, so the mental hurdles were enormous entering the game in '61.

LJ FB: Berry and Taylor, 1961

By Ed Piper

Back in the day (1961), Dan Berry and Butch Taylor led La Jolla High's football team to a 57-7 win over San Dieguito Academy (SDA).

I've gotten the LJHS sports history bug, having talked in the last few days to Dave Ponsford (retired football coach), Rick Eveleth (LJHS basketball star, coach, and athletic director), an attempt to talk to Dick "Hud" Huddleston (football coach in the 90's--left a phone message in North Carolina, no reply yet).

I feel like I've "touched" Gene Edwards, legendary football coach 1961-1989, through Dave's and Rick's words. They know, because they worked and coached with him for years. (Rick even played for him as a student athlete.)

The historical note on Berry and Taylor, who played for Coach Edwards, comes in Rick Smith's blog about San Diego high school sports history at partletonsports.com. I glanced at it a couple of years ago; I just accessed it this morning to see what it had about La Jolla sports back in the day (to overuse that phrase).

The context was quarterback Colin Rugg's explosive game in October 2013 against University City (one of many in his two years as starting quarterback for the Vikings) in which La Jolla scored 63 points, winning by 57.

SDA is one of the county's old-time high schools. In talking to old-timers, I am always told about Hoover (where Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and others played), Sweetwater, San Diego High (where all the teenagers hung out and talked to each other during football games there). SDA no longer has a football team, which interested me in seeing the Mustangs did have a gridiron contingent back in history.

Hoop Dreams: Part 1

By Ed Piper

In search of sacred roundball knowledge...

October 2019

A note appeared in the local paper advising that Sierra Canyon, one of the top high school basketball teams in the nation, was going to play in the San Diego Tip-off Classic at Montgomery High again this fall. The Trailblazers, with Bronny James, the son of LeBron, and Zaire Wade, the son of Dwayne, feature a star-studded roster that took a trip to China in the summer. Last year's edition of the team, featuring guard Scotty Pippen Jr. and K.J. Martin, the son of former NBA star Kenyon, put on a show in three nights. It was a feast for local basketball aficionados, including myself.

Mon., Nov. 4

Took a drive after subbing from Canyon Crest to Montgomery in hopes of locating Ed Martin (my great grandfather's name was Ed Martin Piper). He hadn't returned my text some weeks ago. Do you know what traffic in San Diego County is like at that hour? Yes, you do. It took me almost an hour to get to Aztec land (the mascot for Montgomery). The volleyball coach told me he was at meetings all day with other athletic directors.

My purpose was to ask Martin how he had managed to coax Coach Andre Chevalier of Sierra Canyon to have his team play humble Montgomery High again on the opening night of the local tournament. On night two, the Blazers face St. Augustine, just like last year. (They blew out the Saints after early resistance from Chibuko Agbo, Luke Haupt, and company.) Then, on night number three, Cathedral Catholic provides the opposition.

To salve my wounds, I drove to Otay Farms a short distance away (I taught near here for years). I bought a birote (roll) and freshly-made frijoles refritos, and dipped the one in the other as I munched on the lonely drive home.