Come-from-behind win ices Homecoming matchup

Volunteers had no trouble firing up 100,000 watts of portable lights used to stage the annual “Light the Night” Homecoming football game at Point Loma High School on Oct. 14. Firing up the Pointer football team proved a much more difficult task. The whimpering Dogs left an overflow crowd squirming in their seats as visiting Hoover took a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter in the season’s first Western League matchup. As student performances and the much-anticipated class float competition unfolded during the break, coaches and players engaged in some serious conversations in the stunned Pointers’ locker room. A refocused group of snarling Dogs showed up for the second half and outscored the Cardinals 27-0 to enter a 30-14 victory in PLHS Homecoming history. “Our team came out a little sluggish,” said Pointer head coach Mike Hastings. “We just had to make some halftime adjustments and we did. I told our guys, ‘We’re going to do it and come back.’” The win improves the Pointers to 4-2 (1-0 in Western League) on the season. Hoover drops to 3-3 (0-1 in league). Ironically, the second-half comeback by the Pointers was directed by a quarterback who had just completed only his 29th day as a student at PLHS. Brandon Martin, a 5-foot-10, 170 pound junior transfer from Christian High in El Cajon didn’t know a single play in the Pointer offense when he introduced himself to head coach Mike Hastings shortly before the first day of classes last month. Martin was assigned to the junior varsity squad to learn the Pointer offense and was called up for the Hoover game as Sam Augustine’s backup. “I came right after Hell Week,” Martin said, “and I started as the third-string JV quarterback just learning the system. Last week, they (coaches) said, ‘We’re going to look at you on varsity now.’” When Augustine completed only one of his first eight passes, Martin was summoned to jumpstart the offense. All he did was lead the Dogs on four second-half scoring drives (scoring twice himself) that turned a possible Pointer loss into a seeming rout. “Once I got in, there was a fire under our butts, so they just left me in,” Martin said. “When I scored a touchdown (giving the Pointers their first lead of 21-14 in the fourth quarter), I was pumping everybody up. They listened and we came out with a victory.” Prior to Martin’s first score, the Pointers fought their way back to tie the contest at 14 on a 28-yard Felipe Soares field goal and six-yard touchdown run by Sydney Rush. Jaivon Griffin’s two-point conversion run knotted the score after three quarters. The undermanned Cardinals were wearing down by the time Martin scored on runs of one and two yards, sandwiched around an attempted Cardinal punt in which a high snap rolled out of the end zone for a two-point Pointer safety. The 16-0 fourth quarter scoring run by the Pointers provided great relief to alumni and others in the crowd and reversed a two-year PLHS losing streak in Homecoming games. The Pointers amassed 228 yards on the ground, mostly in the second half. Griffin led with 20 carries for 97 yards while Rush (nine carries, 62 yards) and Martin (12 carries, 38 yards) contributed. Martin completed all four of his pass attempts for 36 yards. He and Augustine found Matt Magers three times and Griffin twice for catches. The Pointers’ longest play of the game was a 17-yard Griffin run, a credit to the Cardinal defense which stopped the Dogs on downs at the 12-yard line in the first quarter. Defensively, Dirk Lacy (six total tackles and assists) led the Dogs. Edmond Tucker and Greg Verdugo racked up four while Aaron Watkins, Tevin Heyward, Devontae Boothe, Eric Bueno and Steven Arreola all had three. Watkins had an interception and sacks were recorded by Morris Mathews (1.5) and Boothe (0.5). Part of the credit for the Pointer comeback goes to the Cardinals’ long-snapper, who had a nightmarish game. His first bad punt snap (low) was recovered by the Pointers on the Hoover one-yard-line, Martin scoring on the next play. His next snap (high) became the Pointer safety. Next up for the Pointers are a pair of home matches against Western League opponents.  La Jolla shows up at 3 p.m. on Oct. 21 with a 1-5 overall record to compete for “The Shoe.” The Vikes are 0-1 in league after losing 28-14 at Madison last week. Next up Oct. 28 is Mission Bay, also at 3 p.m. The Bucs are currently 3-2-1 overall, 1-0 in league after defeating Serra 17-14 at home last week. BITS ‘N’ BITES • When Hoover jumped out to a 14-0 lead, Pointer students loudly booed visiting Cardinal players and cheerleaders celebrating their success. The unsportsmanlike display is similar to behavior that caused cancellation of all district night games back in the 1970s. • All three Pointer football teams posted a “W” last week. The freshmen won 43-0, improving to 4-2 on the season. The junior varsity’s 28-7 victory left them with a 3-3 mark. • Soares’ two field goals (41 and 28 yards) were the longest in recent Pointer memory. The senior dedicates his efforts to his former coach Bill Hastings, father of the PLHS head coach, who passed away after last season. • After four road games in five weeks to open the season, the Pointers play four of five league games on their own turf. Only a Nov. 4 contest at Madison (6:30 p.m. kickoff) remains on the road. • Martin’s nickname is “Chops,” referring to his former mutton-chop sideburns. • Jamal Agnew, a Pointer spark plug, was injured early in the game and did not return. Hastings expects him back for the Oct. 21 game.