LJ Cheer: @ LJ FB CIF D2 semifinals 11/19

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ FB 27, Mira Mesa 14 - CIF D2 Semifinals

Viking QB Kevin Steel (19) gets the PPR treatment

after the game with his enthusiastic teammates.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Kevin Steel is developing into a skilled starting quarterback right before our very eyes.

Steel, employed as the back-up QB to the injured Jackson Stratton, delivered a resounding performance as he led La Jolla to a convincing 27-14 victory over host Mira Mesa in the CIF Division 2 semifinals Fri., Nov. 19.

The Vikings, with spectacular play from receiver Mason Powers and running back Justin Scully, and key plays from Spence Carswell, built  a 17-7 halftime lead against an opponent who was favored. Steel found Powers for a touchdown strike with 2:58 left in the first quarter, following a 30-yard Spence Carswell field goal.

Then the blossoming QB in his own right drilled Scully with a 27-yard completion for a surprising 17-0 advantage with 9:44 remaining in the second quarter.

The Marauders didn't do anything to help their cause. A fumbled reception of La Jolla's kickoff after Carswell's field goal led to Powers' touchdown. The fumble also set the tone for Mira Mesa's non-attack.

Mira Mesa's energy visibly sagged. The program had dedicated the season to Coach Chris Thompson, who died from COVID symptoms while battling bone cancer after the second game this fall. Following the poor start Friday, the Marauders couldn't conjure the emotion to activate their offense. The home crowd, treated to a halftime show by their huge marching band, fell silent other than for the show.

LJHS players and cheerleaders sang their hearts out

on the Alma Mater with the Viking crowd

after the 27-14 playoff win.

Steel, who looked more and more comfortable dropping back--he was building on the three games he started at midseason after Stratton's initial scapula fracture--added to Carswell's second field goal with another TD aerial to Powers with 3:33 left in the third quarter. Spence made the interception that gave La Jolla the ball back. The score was 27-7.

When the 6'4" Kevin misfired on a pass intercepted beginning the fourth quarter, leading to a Mira Mesa TD for 27-14, LJHS Coach Tyler Roach shut the air game down. That's when Scully especially shined, taking handoffs from Steel to protect the ball and use up the clock.

When Powers, doing double duty on defense, intercepted Marauder QB Tyson Line's pass with 4:03 remaining in the game, that clinched Mira Mesa's doom. After the Vikings gained a first down with under 2:30 left, nailing down the victory, Roach took off his headphones and turned to the La Jolla crowd to celebrate.

La Jolla faces Scripps Ranch in the D2 championship game Fri., Nov. 26, at Escondido High at 7 p.m.

Running back Justin Scully was the bomb

in carrying the ball for the victorious Vikings.

LJ golf: Charlotte ties for 7th at CIF State finals

Freshman Charlotte Cantonis tees off

during the CIF State golf finals

at Poppy Springs Golf Course

in Pebble Beach Tues., Nov. 16.

(Aaron Quesnell photo)

By Ed Piper

Charlotte Cantonis, a freshman golfer for Coach Christie Quinn's girls at La Jolla High, reached the pinnacle of her career--so far--in tying for seventh place among individual golfers vying for the CIF State golf championship Tues., Nov. 16 in Pebble Beach.

The fog may not quite have been "pea soup", but officials would have liked to have delayed the finals Tuesday morning with its effect on the atmosphere and potentially on the play of the girls in both individual and team competition.

But flight times are flight times, and Cantonis, for one, had to meet a flight to fly home with her father later in the day to get back to school Wednesday at LJHS. So, no delay, no postponement.

That's part of the reality of a golf course set right next to the coast. We know that whole drill in San Diego and La Jolla, as fog has been known to roll in during football games, lacrosse matches, and a whole host of other activities that are part of seaside living.

All of the credit goes to Cantonis, who, in sweatpants and sweatshirt (see her in photo above), drilled the ball and made it happen in her first big tournament in high school. Aaron Quesnell, the Athletic Director at LJHS, commented, "Playing pretty well", in a text during Tuesday's competition.

And "pretty well" she did among the field of 54 total golfers, some of those entered individually to represent their schools, and others entered as part of the team competition portion of the State Finals. Carlsbad finished fifth among teams. Other area golfers participated along with Cantonis in the thrill of her lifetime.

Quinn and Quesnell walked the course with Cantonis as she was golfing. Her usual red top and white skirt gave way to sweatpants due to the fog and cold for her 10:20 a.m. tee time. She had two other golfers, one from Steele Canyon, in her trio.

"She had a few putts that were just a little short," said Quesnell. In other words, she played a heck of a round of 18 holes.

LJ g golf: Someone who didn't 'just come out of nowhere'

By Ed Piper

Charlotte Cantonis, the La Jolla High freshman golfer who qualified for the CIF State finals, has been doing what she is doing now for a while.

In other words, she didn't just come out of nowhere.

She has been working on her craft for a while. More credit to her.

In 2018, in youth golf, Cantonis placed first in the Kids Tour Spring Series event at Loma Club in San Diego. She scored 750 points as a result.

On February 24, 2018, the future Viking shot 11 over par, using 38 strokes, to win the event.

Exactly a month later, on March 24, 2018, the tall golfer took 70 strokes to place first and win the Kids Tour Spring Series event at the Lawrence Welk Resort. That garnered her another 750 points. Not too shabby.

In between, before and after, the athlete was competing in approximately twice-monthly golf competitions against other youth of similar age.

All of this was pre-COVID, of course.

Then, during the COVID era, Charlotte travelled to Texas and won the FCG Texas Championship for ages 11-18 under the auspices of the Callaway Junior Golf organization. The dates were February 27-28, 2021. 

This has been a lifestyle for a while in the CIF qualifier's practice.

LJ g golf: Cantonis plays in CIF State practice round

Way back on August 16 at RiverWalk, CIF State

finalist Charlotte Cantonis--in red top, white skirt in

background, near middle of line--took part in one of

LJHS Coach Christie Quinn's (left foreground)

putting drills to put the ball between the two

rods on the grass. (Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

"She's playing in that right now," said LJHS Athletic Director Aaron Quesnell Mon., Nov. 15, when he was contacted about Viking freshman Charlotte Cantonis's involvement in the CIF State girls golf finals, specifically the CIF-organized practice round the day before the tournament. It was midday on Monday.

"I'm driving up right now," said the former golf coach, as he neared LAX Airport off the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles. "I'll be back at school late in the day Wed. (Nov. 17)."

What enables the 5'8" freshman to weather the notoriously torrid mental aspect of the links, while she is playing in a high-stakes match?

"I don't know," said Quesnell in all honesty. "She had some tough times during league this fall, and what she did was talk to (present Viking coach Christie) Quinn and work it out." Quesnell coached both girls and boys at LJHS until the COVID era. Quinn was his long-time assistant.

The mental pressure of golf has driven many--most?--of competitors to seek out mental coaches, which we used to call psychologists or "shrinks". One golfer who won the NCAA college title a handful of years ago refused to get a mental coach, and the last report was that he was struggling on the Canadian pro circuit, not really making the grade.

During tryouts in August, Cantonis

lines up her shot under Coach

Quinn's direction to try the next

exercise.

Cantonis placed seventh at the CIF Section championship, then fifth at the CIF Southern California Regionals competition last week. To do better at the higher level really says something. The last time La Jolla had a competitor in the Regionals or State competition is not known.

Charlotte's tee time Tuesday for the 18-hole State final is 10:20 a.m. She is playing with two other qualifiers, one from Steele Canyon locally. Her father and her coach, Quinn, accompanied her when she flew to Pebble Beach Sunday.

"She's pretty quiet," said Quesnell. "She was kind of embarrassed Friday (Nov. 12) when we introduced her at the football game (at La Jolla versus Valley Center). But she deserved it."

LJ g golf: Cantonis to Pebble Beach

Charlotte Cantonis, freshman golfer who finished

fifth in the Southern California Regional, was

introduced at the LJHS-Valley Center

playoff football game Fri., Nov. 12.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Charlotte Cantonis, a freshman golfer at La Jolla High, finished fifth in the Southern California Regional and qualified for the state meet Tues., Nov. 16 at prestigious Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.

"No, her father will go with her," said Cantonis' mom when asked if she was accompanying her daughter on the Monday flight to Pebble Beach, just south of the Bay Area. Mom was taking photos when her daughter was introduced to the crowd during the Viking-Valley Center playoff game which La Jolla later won Fri., Nov. 12.

Charlotte didn't just come out of nowhere. Aaron Quesnell, the former LJHS golf coach who just stepped down to assume his position as Athletic Director at LJHS this fall, made sure I knew about her earlier this fall. "Charlotte Canthonis--she's really playing well," he told me a couple of months ago.

Cantonis put up good scores all fall in leading a young, struggling Viking girls team under Coach Christie Quinn. Several seniors graduated last year, and COVID just wreaked havoc in the progress of the program during an abbreviated schedule last winter.

Cantonis is a typical teenager, not given to a ton of words in front of a representative of the media. She would talk and laugh with Daria Tvrdisic, another freshman, and other teammates during workouts and meetups for matches this fall. She's not a quote machine, she's a golf machine. She lets her golf speak for itself.

Charlotte measures about 5'8", so she stands out among the girls as one of the tallest on either side. Her tee time at Pebble Beach Tuesday is 10:20 a.m. with two other competitors, Annika Yturralde from Steele Canyon and Michelle Woo from Mission San Jose High School. The trio, like the other 17 threesomes, will tee off on the 10th hole at Poppy Hills.

Tournament notes state that the driving range at Poppy will open Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. There is a scheduled practice round organized by CIF, but that apparently is held the day before, Monday. It's not clear if Cantonis will take part in the practice round to acquaint herself with the course. That would seem to be an enormous advantage.

LJ Cheer: @ LJ-Valley Center FB game 11/12

By Ed Piper