LJ FB: More photos 9/3 vs. PLHS

Photos by Ed Piper

Viking QB Jackson Stratton throwing

in warm-ups Friday night.

LJ kicker Spence Carswell (22) takes a few

practice shots in warm-ups.

Vikings Jackson Stratton (15) and

Anthony Hall (3), both seniors, walk out

to the coin toss before the game.

PLHS junior RB Chase Lowary,

a workhorse in the LJHS game.

Sophomore kicker Aaron

Lee, who pretty much matched

Viking kicker Spence

Carswell, though not with

as much distance.

QB Jackson Emerson (isn't

everybody's quarterback named

Jackson?), who played his

heart out in Point Loma taking

a 21-7 lead over the Vikings

Sept. 3, before falling 28-21.

Both-ways PL player

Nate Tenbrook

LJ xc: Raven Invitational

Boys run in the Raven Invitational among fans

and athletes from other races at Canyon Crest

Academy Sat., Sept. 4.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

 

By Ed Piper

Kyra Fisk, beginning her sophomore year, picked up where she left off last spring in track by placing seventh out of 98 finishers in a race designed for seniors and others invited for the three-mile event, in the highly competitive Raven Invitational Sat., Sept. 4 on the campus of Canyon Crest Academy off Highway 56 in northern San Diego County.

Fisk, who consistently led La Jolla High girls in finishing cross country meets last year as a freshman, ran a time of 17:56.69 over the three miles as an underclassperson.

Sasha Backus, another Viking runner, ran the course in 20:27.13. She placed 51st and is a senior. Natalie Courtney, a fellow 12th-grader, finished a minute later in 21:21.03 for 61st place.

Kyra's close friend and training partner, Daphne Mayer, a fellow 10th-grader, placed third in a separate race, a three-mile event exclusively for sophomores, with a time of 19:53.09.

Abigail Plezia finished 12th among sophomores in the same race with 21:14.14.

Fisk, Mayer, and Plezia are the core of an outstanding class of girls who burst on the scene together last year as freshmen during the COVID pandemic.

Viking Abbie Esposito

at the event Sat.

Also in the sophomore girls race, Shannon Cao ran 22:39.70 for 35th (out of 65 finishers). Natalie Pong placed 38th with 22:51.85.

In the junior race over three miles, Scarlett Slagter recorded a time of 21:38.32 for 20th (out of 55 finishers). Nicole Nunes was right behind in 21:41.89 for 23rd place.

On the boys' side, Viking runner Nikolas Hogan placed 25th in 18:15.10 and Christopher Ruff had a time of 18:26.90 for 30th place in the sophomore three-mile.

Isaac McGreevy was 56th in 19:33.27 and Jaime Luis Guzman-Capecchi 76th (among 107 finishers) in 20:24.96.

In the boys' junior race, Jake Dixon clocked 18:45.68 for 49th place (among 99 finishers). Renan Tinney ran 19:11.92 for 59th place. Aidan Nikmanesh busted out a time of 19:23.34 in 62nd place. Victor Banda ran 20:34.19 for 81st place.

LJ Cheer: @ LJ-Point Loma FB game 9/3

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ FB 28, Point Loma 21

"The Shoe", emblematic of the winner

of the LJ-Point Loma football game

each year.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

The Vikings (2-1) dug themselves quite a hole, trailing a spirited Point Loma team under new coach Joel Allen 21-7 at halftime and 21-14 as late as three minutes into the final quarter.

But quarterback Jackson Stratton worked some comeback magic, connecting with receiver Mason Powers for an 89-yard score, then Makai Smith as La Jolla's football team pulled out a 28-21 win Fri., Sept. 3, in a non-league contest at Edwards Field.

Between the two late TD's, Viking defender Landon Donovan swiped a Jackson Emerson pass on 4th-and-4 with 4:56 left in the game to set up the winning drive, which included three completions to marvelous Makai in a four-play series. The other play was a keeper by Stratton to the 11-yard line.

The comeback triumph, played before vocal opposing student bodies--one (La Jolla's) of which began streaming onto the field in the second quarter before administrators got students back in the stands--means that the Vikings re-take possession of "the Boot", a gold spray-painted football shoe symbolic of the two schools' rivalry series.

The Viking 'D' regroups during a timeout

with Defensive Coordinator Stephen Dixon.

Just before halftime, Pointer tight end Cayden Nantkes, a junior, grabbed an Emerson pass veering out of bounds in front of the white-clad LJHS student body (which stood the entire game).

Still clutching the football, Nantkes ran up near the wall in front of the stands, thrusting the ball in the air. The Viking students went nuts, and the junior was assessed a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty, which killed Point Loma's drive and negated the progress he had made on the pass completion.

This occurred soon after the La Jolla students began climbing the railing to drop down onto the track and stream onto the field before school supervisors stemmed the movement, restoring some order in that part of the stadium.

The few LJ students who went onto the field

early in the second quarter get corralled

by campus supervisors.

An injured Point Loma player went down and stayed down for 20 minutes with 8:15 on the clock in the first quarter. He was able to respond to EMT's and doctors attending to him by pointing to his chest. They stabilized his neck with a neck collar and eventually loaded him into an ambulance before driving him to a hospital.

An update on his condition was not available later Friday night. Two other Pointers went down during the game, though temporarily and of a much shorter duration.

LJ b beach VB vs. PLHS - Pre-season warm-up

By Ed Piper

"I hope Jake Northrup will be able to do it," said head coach Dave Jones of Viking boys beach volleyball Thurs., Sept. 2." Jones was processing the start of the 2021-22 school year, which requires him to focus a lot on teaching his AP classes. It sounded like Northrup, a former Viking, would likely to be able to do a lot of the heavy lifting for the beach team this fall, which Jones was hoping he didn't have to do right now.

Eighteen La Jolla High beach or aspiring beach players showed up for the initial scrimmage of the first year out of COVID lockdown last year. At least one of the LJ players is brand new to volleyball, and looks to have plenty of opportunity with the shape of the season barely coming into focus.

The following pairs teamed up against opponents from Point Loma High on the Ocean Beach volleyball courts, situated right near the restrooms and off the parking lot:

Russell Fish and Devan Chanda, both seniors

Brennan Ross and Nathan Kirn, seniors

Quinn Tomasulo and Cole Riney, juniors

Duncan Carswell and Zach Austgen, juniors

Nate Levine and Elliot Goss, juniors

Walter Birnbaum, junior, and Daniel Lee, senior

Dylan Lancaster, senior, and Nolan Spann, freshman (the only upperclassman/lowerclassman pair)

Shane McMillan and Nathan Tukuafu, sophomores

Parker Callahan and Brennan Schmidt, sophomores

LJ b beach VB scrmg. vs. PLHS - Photos 9/2

Photos by Ed Piper

Cole Riney, junior

Quinn Tomasulo (L), junior

Russell Fish (L), senior

Devan Chanda, senior

Parker Callahan,

sophomore

Parker Callahan (L), Brennan Schmidt (R),

both sophomores - hydration time

LJ FB: 'Max Smith gives me the chills'

By Ed Piper

"We don't say Max Smith's name. It gives me the chills."

Marlon Gardinera, the head football coach at Scripps Ranch, remembers the game against La Jolla in 2018 vividly.

When he relates the story, he holds his left forearm up, pointing to the imaginary goosebumps on his arm.

"That was the victory formation game," he reminds me. The Falcons, a win over the Vikings seemingly assured, went into the "victory formation" in the closing moments--a "V" around the quarterback--that teams often resort to in such situations.

Smith, a sophomore at La Jolla still building his legend, observed how Scripps' offense hiked the ball. He told me later that he kind of timed it.

Lining up on the right side of Scripps' "box" of linemen around their QB--the left side from the Vikings' perspective--Max jumped across the line of scrimmage right after the hike, totally legal.

He caught the ball in the air!

On the next play, La Jolla scored, winning the game. Insane. It was head coach Tyler Roach's second year in the job.