Photos by Ed Piper
Photos by Ed Piper
By Ed Piper
In week 4 of the high school football season, meeting tough Del Norte, another 2-1 team coming in, the Vikings went with their main guns in a battle that went down to the last second and an interception in the northern end zone by senior Tommy Castronovo, who is becoming something of a local legend for his hard hits and persistent spirit.
Running back Justin Scully, who also provided several bruising stops on defense, broke loose for a 66-yard run from the Vikes' own 34-yard line late in the first quarter to put the hosts up 7-0 with Evan Martin's PAT kick.
Junior quarterback Jackson Diehl, in his third straight effective performance, found favorite target Ryan Weinberg in the end zone from 28 yards out early in the next quarter for to make it 14-0. The rain, which came as the result of Tropical Storm Kay, stopped soon after this and the warm air of the storm provided for an enjoyable shirt-sleeve evening for many the rest of the way.
The vocal La Jolla student section, standing throughout the game--dressed again in all white--lent their support to Scully, Diehl, and Weinberg and company through thick and thin.
Diehl and Weinberg teamed up again for a catch-and-run play that covered 54 yards for a 21-0 lead following the frustrating start. (See other game story.)
The Nighthawks, coached by Leigh Cole, an extremely popular coach on campus, tightened things up by going Jack Schneider to Christopher Guzman for 24 yards and a score early in the second half, a 21-7 La Jolla lead.
Del Norte rallied again with 8:06 left in the game with a Schneider to Ty Olsen connection for 22 yards, the game becoming extremely tight at 21-13. The Nighthawks tried for a two-point conversion, but failed.
In a wildcat formation that was all Justin Scully, the Vikes pushed the ball over on the third snap to Scully from one yard out with 1:15 left, giving the hosts a cushion at 27-13. The conversion was no good.
The Nighthawks, demonstrating incredible momentum, delivered with 38.1 seconds on the clock on another Schneider-to-Olsen play, stretching 72 yards. The kick was good. La Jolla now led only 27-20.
Del Norte squibbed the kickoff, recovered on La Jolla's 48-yard line. Two completions to Olsen were followed by the last-ditch heave to the end zone, where Castronovo caught the ball and celebrated.
SCORING
1st Quarter
LJ - Justin Scully 66-yard run; Evan Martin kick; LJ lead 7-0
2nd Quarter
LJ - Ryan Weinberg, 28-yard reception from Jackson Diehl; Martin kick; LJ lead 14-0
LJ - Weinberg 54-yard reception from Diehl; Martin kick; LJ lead 21-0
3rd Quarter
DN - Christopher Guzman 24-yard reception from Jack Schneider; Trey Coleman kick; LJ lead 21-7
4th Quarter
DN - Ty Olsen 22-yard reception from Schneider; PAT no good; LJ lead 21-13
LJ - Scully 1-yard run; PAT failed; LJ lead 27-13
DN - Olsen 72-yard reception from Schneider; Coleman kick good; LJ lead 27-20
By Ed Piper
I would like to see it laid out in a medical journal how the new state law requiring high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. lends rest to adolescents who need extra sleep, versus overall well-being including participation in school sports that start during or right after last period.
Present situation: Experts tell us that developing teens need sleep between the hours of this-and-that, so they need to start their high school classes later than the old time at 7:30 a.m. or so.
It's not about getting more sleep; if that was the case, we'd just tell students to go to bed earlier after finishing homework and turning off their devices, so that they could sleep through the night.
No, the current argument, as I understand it, is that adolescents must rest during certain hours--not longer hours. I don't know if it has to do with biorhythms or what.
Okay, I get it. So, as a result some schools have prohibited team workouts before classes, cancelling out any benefit of the certain-hour theory. (Some, I understand, hold morning workouts; others don't. Two girls with wet hair walked into my first period class in Poway Unified School District; they had just had a cross country training session.)
Here is my present quandary: La Jolla's girls golf team has matches starting as early as 3:30 p.m. this fall. That means the six girls golfing that day have to leave either during last period, or before last period even starts.
They're either going to have to be good students, who can keep up with their work and make up for the presentations and lectures they miss in class. Or they're going to bomb out. CIF and school requirements insist on adequate academic performance. A girl can't just quit working in class because she's rushing to golf matches once or twice a week.
So, where does this rest-during-certain-hours vs. overall well-being (I'm in classes, I have to do well, it's stressing me out as I miss certain days in class) issue collide?
In homeroom and in morning announcements, a constant drumbeat is being kept up on "mental health": Take care of yourself. Keep balance in your life. Attend to your personal well-being. Take a break from studies to maintain a positive view. This started especially with COVID. COVID was, and is, wreaking havoc among young people, with its isolating qualities, school shutdowns, fear of getting COVID, and all the rest making the last two years extremely difficult.
Can you imagine growing up during the every-100-year pandemic? I never had to go through it at their age.
Homeroom presentations (I substitute-teach in two area districts) include tell someone if you need help; don't be a loner; reach out for support. There are many, many content presentations that students have received since they returned to classes later in 2020.
My point: In the next couple of years, as we assess what the school-start time change means for our children--8:30 a.m. start, after so many years at 7:05 a.m. (I subbed at Torrey Pines High in the 90's), 7:20 a.m., and so forth--how are we going to view the effects of the later start time in view of its impact on other aspects of student life?
A student having to miss last period regularly during their sport(s) season(s) is certainly going to be affected by missing class. Imagine if you have a senior class you have to take, and it is only offered last period? You're on a team whose matches start right at 3:30.
I wonder if we might begin to discuss moderating the influence of the 8:30 a.m. start time by meeting halfway, with an 8:15 start, 8 a.m., maybe somewhere in there.
Like I said at the top, how do we best address student mental health in the overall picture? As time goes on, the devastating effects of COVID will hopefully continually recede into the background as a lesser factor.
A lesser issue I didn't even touch on is the role of the student body in school sports. Shouldn't kids have the ability to attend athletic contests that their classmates are participating in? That becomes extremely difficult in view of the issues raised above. What is the point of a student body in the performance of the school's teams? We make a big deal out of how it is different playing a club sport (great coaching, no hanging out with one's classmates) vs. playing "for our school".
Freshman Cooper Gilmore wasn't whistlin' Dixie when she shot a 35 against Cathedral in a league match Wed., Sept. 7. Gilmore leads the pack of a junior-dominated girls golf team for La Jolla fronted by two ninth-graders, Madison Quach and Gilmore.
Long-time coach Christie Quinn is gently guiding her bevy of nine golfers, instilling confidence, including sophomore Ella Roman, who was named team captain, and junior Kiana Thacker, who serves as co-captain.
This is who the Vikings are, coming out of two difficult years of COVID, when part of the time team members couldn't even meet to talk face-to-face. Many programs face two missing classes of girls and guys who couldn't come out for the sport, or didn't want to--considering the complexities of mask protocol, who touches what, etc. Besides, school was closed down beginning March 13, 2020.
Whew, we're largely moving out of that. Quinn can begin to coach, and the girls can settle, focus on their stroke work, and move ahead.
"Coop" leads the team with a 3.98 differential over the first six matches. Quach is the next golfer behind her, at 12.02.
The girl Vikes line up the following way from there: third, junior Christie Kim, 16.80; fourth, Malia Thacker, 19.47; fifth, junior Daria Tvrdisic, 20.10; sixth, junior Kiana Thacker, Malia's twin sister, 20.50; seventh, Sophia Benito, 22.22; eighth, junior Nika Moradi, 25.54; and ninth, Roman, 28.46.
La Jolla faces Coronado in a league match Wed., Sept. 14, at La Jolla Country Club at 3:30 p.m. The school schedule poses a difficulty in non-players showing up to watch meets. School doesn't let out until 3:25. Other area schools, including Poway Unified School District high schools, are now letting out at 3:45 p.m. due to the new state law that they had to be in compliance with this year. San Dieguito Union High School schools dismiss students at 3:30 p.m.
Early in La Jolla's 27-20 win over Del Norte Sept. 9--really early--a key play was called dead by game officials because an "inadvertent whistle" had been blown just prior to the play.
The play could have changed the entire complexion of the game. The Vikings struggled to hold on to their lead in the fourth quarter, requiring an interception in the end zone by Tommy Castronovo as time ran out to guarantee their one-TD victory.
On the 12th play of the game, La Jolla's first possession running out of gas, kicker/punter Evan Martin blasted the ball on a fourth-and-10 on Del Norte's 40-yard line.
At the receiving end, standing just in front of the southern goal line, the punt receiver for the Nighthawks signaled for a fair catch as Vike defenders rushed up to him. As he did so, the ball glanced off him and hit the ground. An LJ defender and the punt returner began a tussle for the ball, which was loose.
Not far away was the La Jolla bench. Coaches and players had come down the line, as the play took place not far from their sideline.
Whistle. Officials blew the play dead, and ruled that the "inadvertent whistle"--by one of the referees' crew--had annulled the play before it happened.
Viking head coach Tyler Roach went nuts. He was hopping up and down, screaming that officials were not on their game, blowing the call: "You've already blown your whistle eight times, and..."
The thing was, it was very possible that should a La Jolla defender have wrestled the ball away from the intended punt returner, Jackson Diehl and the Viking offense would have taken over at the two- or three-yard line of a scoreless game. They very likely could have scored from there.
The game was expected to be close. Both teams went in with 2-1 records. Del Norte and La Jolla have had a good, even intense rivalry over the last couple of years, even if their pairing is a non-league one. Last year, Viking quarter Jackson Stratton legged out a run instead of throwing a pass, and suffered a fracture of the bone behind his throwing shoulder. That put him out for a couple of weeks, then he reinjured it in the final game of the season against Scripps Ranch, a CIF championship game, helping spell La Jolla's disaster.
Back to Friday night, La Jolla did hold on to its lead, partly by adding another touchdown late in the fourth quarter to go up 27-13 with a little insurance. Justin Scully ran that one over. Right after Scully's repeated wildcat runs to score, Del Norte's super sophomore receiver Ty Olsen went 72 yards with his second straight reception from quarterback Jack Schneider to score a TD and tighten the game at 27-20.
La Jolla barely held on to win.
