LJ Cheer: Homecoming routine 10/2

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ FB 42, Scripps Ranch 29 - Homecoming - 10/2

Photos by Ed Piper

Freshman star Zakai Jackson (6) takes a reception

from QB Brody Bukich 29 yards on the Vikings'

first play from scrimmage. La Jolla soon

scored on the nine-play drive for a 7-0 lead.

Kali Deberry starts the second half with

a run to show the beast he is.

Fireworks explode over the tennis

courts during one of the highlights

of Homecoming.

Viking tight end Nico Bardaro (15, hand raised)

lines up on the right before a golden twilight

at Edwards Stadium. It was a warm but pleasant

night (80's).

Receiver Jackson Hanlon (8) takes

a pass and advances eight yards.

He is covered by Rory Dunn (4).

Action took place in the first quarter.

Nico Bardaro (behind blocker Blake

Alexander, red uniform in front)

takes the ball in the wildcat

to score La Jolla's first TD of the night.

LJ kicker Ryan Hassankhami (rear, with leg

swinging) kicks the extra point for a 7-0 advantage

with 7:58 left in the opening period.

LJ Athletic Trainer McKenna

Peckinpaugh, with her trademark

lollipop in her mouth, treats

Nico Bardaro (15) for

a hand injury.

More fireworks at halftime.

A Viking pep band member warms up on the

flute before the band plays the National Anthem

prior to the Homecoming game.

Other band members, including one in ghoulish

makeup, gather on the track.

LJ FB: Me as OC

Sean Bannon (5, right) of the Vikings puts

pressure on the Saints punter, Alex Aizpuru (21).

Unfortunately, the junior collided with Aizpuru

and was called for roughing the kicker

in the first quarter Sept. 25.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

You would never want this to be true, but make me Offensive Coordinator for the Vikings for one game, Homecoming, tonight (it's now 11:30 a.m., Fri., Oct. 2), and here's what I would do.

Mind you, I'm an amateur. I never played football (our mother prohibited my brother and me from playing), never coached it, never learned it. My only schooling is watching La Jolla, primarily, for the past decade and a half, and observing and learning from Head Coach Tyler Roach as much as I can from a distance--and the occasional interview.

I'd have La Jolla do what the Vikes do best: Start sophomore Ty Tortorice (see addendum below) and let him direct the offense, gain some momentum. Roach always--without exception--elects to receive the opening kickoff, whenever that is possible during the pregame coin flip, to gain early momentum and get the ball rolling, literally.

Turn running back Kali Deberry loose, employing him on rushes frequently in the early going. Throw Joseph Crudo, the other back, in there for a good sprinkling of rushes. Both run between the tackles, and Crudo also swings outside for the occasional ground-gainer.

Set senior athlete/playmaker Nico Bardaro up for a jet sweep here and there--he usually swings to the right, starting out on the left.

Up and rolling, with the defense doing a good job of doing the basics, staying with their fundamentals (this is how I played basketball my senior year in high school eons ago), stopping the visiting Falcons from Scripps Ranch.

Make adjustments. Go with what the game gives you on offense and defense. Your good athletes on La Jolla are going to play both ways, so they'll be busy in the heat (already picking up right now in Clairemont: 85.6 degrees at 11:37 a.m.) and doing their jobs.

At an opportune time, insert junior Brody Bukich at quarterback, say, once the second quarter moves midway through the dozen minutes. Give him short routes to throw, looking for freshman Zakai Jackson, Deberry, and Crudo moving about. Let him get comfortable as he steps into the shoes of leadership this night.

Go from there. I don't know of particular tendencies Scripps Ranch has, but Roach does. This is the same Scripps Ranch where former Head Coach Marlon Gardinera carried on such a great rivalry with Roach and the Vikings, especially the Max Smith game in which the linebacker lined up on the line and jumped across the instant the ball was hiked and batted the ball down, with a teammate recovering it. La Jolla took over possession. QB Jackson Stratton engineered a quick-strike touchdown. La Jolla pulled off an incredible last-minute comeback during a league game in 2018.

Fortunately, Gardinera retired at the end of the 2025 season, so his successor, John Taylor, has to carry the reins. A quick look at MaxPreps shows the Falcons are struggling more than the Vikings, having yet to win a game this season (0-5). This is the time, this is the place tonight at Edwards Stadium for La Jolla to celebrate a good Homecoming.

By the way, Scripps Ranch, showing itself to be pretty weak so far, suffered a blowout Eastern League loss to San Diego last Friday, Sept. 25, 35-6. Their efforts the week before didn't go much better, losing 42-21 to Mira Mesa Sept. 18. Poway is good, and the Falcons lost to the Titans 16-0 on opening night back on Aug. 21.

*  *  *

Addendum after the game: I didn't know that Viking quarterback Ty Tortorice had gone out of the St. Augustine game in the second quarter under concussion protocol. The sophomore didn't play against Scripps Ranch, and wore sunglasses to cut the glare and give his senses a rest at the game. He said he would be out yet another week.

West and pre-logo days

By Ed Piper

A seventh-grade boy, obviously into basketball and the NBA, asked me what team I liked. I said the Lakers, kind of. I haven't adjusted to the Luka Doncic era yet.

He asked me who my favorite player was. This type of exchange goes on not infrequently. Middle-schoolers are shorter; my height raises the immediate question of whether I played basketball. I did.

So, I thought for a second--Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain... I said "Jerry West". He, obviously an avid NBA follower, said immediately, "The Logo."

I don't think this way. Jerry West being the figure used for the NBA logo came in much later.

I don't condemn the kid, but generations are on different wavelengths about these things. For him, Jerry West is someone he reads about in books about the history of basketball. For me, I actually turned on KTLA Channel 5, or KTTV Channel 11, and actually saw the guy dribbling down the court. (I didn't see my first NBA game in person until my teen years. My dad wasn't into sports. My mom, either. We lived an hour from L.A. by the time I was 10 years old, so driving there--and I didn't really know they existed and played in an arena somewhat near my house, I was into major league baseball--was out of the question, especially since my dad already commuted one hour each way from Camarillo to El Segundo Monday through  Friday.)

I asked him he was into. "The Knicks," he said. "Bandwagon," I said. I wasn't very gentle. "You just like them because they won the NBA title this past season."

"No," protested the boy. "I've been into them since 2014"--which would be the day he was born, which is impossible.

Then class started and I had to get things going. I didn't really give him a chance. Looking back, I realize how much he knew and how much he was into the NBA. The next time I meet him, I should give him more chance to explain.

He's kind of the way I was at that age about major league baseball. (I'm not capitalizing it, because I'm not talking about a product, but the professional game of baseball. Back then, it was called Organized Baseball. I've seen read that that term was rejected because it hearkens back to the days of Kennesaw Mountain Landis, before Blacks were allowed to play in the majors. Plus Black owners in the Negro Leagues were denied a chance to move their franchises into baseball, basically killing their businesses off. Walter O'Malley and his cronies weren't actually for free enterprise; just enterprise they could carry on.

We talked about the incredible giftedness of players nowadays. He asked, "Why were centers so tall back then?" I said I hadn't heard that question before, but that centers were trained to only play center, with their back to the basket. Wilt Chamberlain was nimble in his younger years, but he and Bill Russell and Walt Bellamy and the others were only expected to play under the basket, block shots, rebound, and slam dunk the ball from close in.

I told him, Giannis Antetokounmpo is from another world. He is 6'9", yet can play like a forward or guard did in the old days.

He brought up Victor Wembanyama, and we agreed he was a creature from another world, so agile and nimble, yet 7'4" and able to defend guards as well as big men. Incredible.

He said "Wemby" didn't do as well in the playoffs as he had during the regular season last year. I said he's still young, he needs time to mature even more, and that with all the focus on him he will learn how to deal with the pressure and double-teaming as he develops. He's still a young man at 21, I believe!

I confided to him that he and my basketball buddies back in the day didn't watch the NBA, because we considered it a sloppy version of the game. (We preferred college, with its more-disciplined game. But that was before the shot clock came in.) He didn't really seem to understand that. I don't know if he actually plays basketball. It's different being a fan from being a player who is a fan.

LJ g golf vs. OLP @ Balboa - 10/1

Photos by Ed Piper

Senior Turi O'Brien looks for where

her shot landed off the women's

tee on the first hole.

O'Brien shows her power on her initial

shot.

Junior Milena Malik tees off in the fourth

group vs. OLP.

Liesl Kijora hits her third shot on the second

hole, way down below the clubhouse at Balboa.

Her tee shot on the hole went a little awry,

so she had to make up distance.

The Vikings wait on the path down to the first

tee just before the first group at 3:27 p.m.

LJ assistant coach Noah Marquez

tees off from the men's tees

way up top above the first hole.

LJ b water polo: Game story 9/30

Viking Quinn Daniels (3), at the point ("3" position

in water polo terminology) fires a shot attempt

just before halftime, but Knight goalie

Adam Revenco (not in view) blocked it.

La Jolla went on to a 14-13 win.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Quinn Daniels, a senior whose All-CIF First Team selection last year has only stoked more confidence, drilled a goal from the perimeter with 1.16 seconds left to break a 13-13 tie at Bishop's and give La Jolla its first Western League win this season, and its first win over its crosstown rival in the initial match of two during league play.

Daniels, setting up at the point as the clock ticked down from 10.7 seconds (a timeout) in the match Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 30, became the man of the hour.

Teammate Dexter Black had been bulloxed all game as Knight coach Ian Davidson directed his defense to focus on the 6'6" 4/5-position scorer on the right side of the cage.

Another of the Vikings' big four, Henry Glenister, had to battle inside at the center spot. That's a physical position. He was frustrated as multiple backhand shot attempts either were blocked or went off-target.

Opposing them, Aden Shin, on the home squad, led much of the Bishop's scoring. But midway through the final quarter, beginning at 4:13, La Jolla built two-goal leads twice after trailing 4-2 in the first quarter.

Aden Shin (10) of Bishop's scores

in the upper left of the cage

with 1:23 left in the first half

for a 6-6 score.

With Knight girls getting vocal from the stands, and Viking supporters being no less vociferous, Barney Pearce scored from the 1-2 side (left side of the goal) for a 12-10 LJ lead.

Then a minute later, Glenister bounced a shot in transition, ahead of the sprinting pack, against Bishop's goalie Adam Revenco, making it 13-11.

But Shin scored in close, then hit a penalty shot to the far right of Vike goalie Addie Calhoun's outstretched arm to knot the score at 13-all. That set the stage for Daniels' dramatic shot.

The Vikings have now split their matches with their fellow Western League and CIF contenders, Cathedral Catholic (a 16-15 loss) and Bishop's. They want to make up ground in the second round of conference play before the postseason.

LJ sports: Hallelujah!

LJ cornerbacks assistant Damarious Whitten

coaches up freshman Ian Jameson (10)

during a timeout Fri., Oct. 2. Teammate

Jager Kideys (3) looks on.

(Photo by Ed Piper

By Ed Piper

The "hallelujah" is for the fact I could access my blog at the particular location I am at at this time. It is unexpected, but welcome.

I know the headline for this entry is "LJ sports", but I digress in view of the MLB playoffs (they avoid that word in promotion--it's "Postseason" in all marketing--to say I just encountered a gentleman in a Phillies jersey who I also saw last week in the same gear. I thought, I should have worn my true colors (blue).

He said something to the man standing next to him in the restroom, "We play again." I said upon entering, "How are your Phillies going to do?"

Then I said, "Our Dodgers are waiting for you," and he left. On to another day.

*  *  *

This Friday night, Oct. 2, is Homecoming at La Jolla High versus Scripps Ranch. I hope they truly do a Homecoming. Last year, there was no on-field announcement of the Homecoming king and queen. Later, someone told me, "They wanted to save it for the dance."

Back three years ago, quarterback Jackson Diehl was the Homecoming king, and sprinter Payton Smith was the Homecoming Queen. Jackson, playing in the football game, was allowed time to come back out onto the field and be introduced for his honor. Payton, who was serving as ASB president, merely stepped from her post in front of the stands leading her fellow students (probably went and changed--I don't remember that part) onto the football field.

I'm sure the Viking cheer team will do a special routine for Homecoming. But maybe there also will be a parade of some sort of vehicles carrying the honorees--none of that happened last year.