Both La Jolla High and La Jolla Country Day School used last weekend to start or tune up for league play this weekend. La Jolla High (3-3) opened up Western League play on the road last Friday with a 17-7 victory at Hoover. Trailing 7-0 entering the third quarter, La Jolla kicker Lee Abelkop recovered his own onside kick, and the Vikings had good field position for the first time all afternoon. The Viking offense moved the ball down the field behind runs of nine and six yards from senior Robbie Beathard and 12 yards from junior Matt Petch. After the drive stalled, Abelkop nailed a 33-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3. La Jolla’s offensive line took control in the fourth quarter as juniors Jose Avilas and Cameron Holmes, and seniors Hans Baker, Francisco Garcia and Shane Greco, opened holes for Beathard, Petch and senior Victor Rangel. After a run of 32 yards by Rangel, senior quarterback Henry Nawahini hit junior tight end Taylor Davis on a 25-yard crossing route. Beathard punched it in from eight yards out to give the Vikings the lead for good. La Jolla added another score when Petch ran it in from six yards out. As they did much of the afternoon, La Jolla defensive coach Rey Hernandez’s defense turned Hoover away and held the Cardinals to seven points. Hoover’s last drive was ended by a nice over-the-shoulder interception by senior defensive back Kitt Livingstone. The Viking defense was up to the Hoover challenge all afternoon and limited the Cardinals to just 159 yards of total offense. Senior defensive lineman Jonathan Flores dominated the inside holes and contributed five solo tackles and two assists for the game. Beathard also had five tackles and two assists on the defensive side of the ball, Nawahini had four solo tackles and four assists, and Davis contributed four tackles and two assists. On the offensive side, Rangel finished the afternoon with 93 yards on nine carries, and Beathard had 70 yards on 15 carries. Nawahini completed 6 of 13 passes for 69 yards. “I was disappointed on how we came out of the bye week so flat,” La Jolla High head coach Dave Ponsford commented. “Every time we got something going in the first half, we would get a penalty and have to punt. We can’t wait until the second half to show up to play football games, not with the league teams still on the schedule. But, it is very nice to start our league quest out with a win.” La Jolla will visit Serra High this Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Elsewhere, La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School (4-2) scored early and often en route to a 55-0 win over Sage Hill last Friday evening. Injuries to starting QB Derek Hatfield and to backup Ruben Pena resulted in JV QB Grayson Tucker getting his first varsity start. To make starting at QB in the sixth football game of his life even more of a challenge, Tucker played the game with a padded cast on his left, non-throwing hand (he joined a small group of fellow teammates in singing the national anthem just before kickoff). “Despite making a few first-game mistakes, Grayson was cool and collected as he led his team to the win and he connected on 9 of 18 passes for 127 yards with two interceptions,” LJCD head coach Jeff Hutzler noted. Running back Montell Allen delivered for the Torreys with 136 yards rushing and two TDs on 18 carries. Back Frankie Brown chipped in with 61 yards and a TD, while Connor Gerhart gained 31 yards and a TD on two carries and receiver Kees Thompson took the ball around the end 25 yards for a TD. RB Mike Salas also added a rushing touchdown. Eastin Reaume had five catches for 52 yards and Thompson added three for 60 yards. LJCD’s defense was led by Doug Rogers with six tackles and a sack, Indie Lavarias with four tackles, Allen with five tackles, Alex Papageorge with five tackles, Blake Mohseni with four tackles and a sack and Gerhart with five tackles. Thompson added a 60-yard punt return for a TD, while Zack Wolfenson added five PATs and two field goals (31, 39 yards). Hunter Khaleghi scored his first varsity points when he hit two second-half PATs.   LJCD opens Pacific League play versus Calipatria at home Friday night at 7 p.m. Finally, University City High (1-5) got a TD run and pass (BJ Cabucanan scored the touchdown) from Skyler Dougherty, but it was not enough in a 48-21 loss to Serra High last weekend. Andrew Swasey added a six-yard TD run for UC, which travels to Point Loma on Friday.