After cruising through two lopsided victories, the Point Loma High School (PLHS) football team saw several crucial mistakes and numerous penalties lead to a 31-21 defeat in a physical game Sept. 17 at El Capitan. It was not that the Pointers (2-1) couldn’t move the football against the Vaqueros. They did that with relative ease as quarterback Sean McKaveney’s passes often found targets including receivers Thomas Mize and Matt Magers and running backs Jaivon Griffin, Morris Mathews, Thomas Bell and Eric Bueno were able to sprint and blast through Vaquero defenders. But opportunistic El Capitan (1-2) used two interceptions and two recovered fumbles to stall Point Loma while scoring themselves on two trick plays and a returned interception. “If you turn the ball over that many times and have that many yards in penalties, you put yourself in a real deficit,” said Pointers head coach Mike Hastings. Perhaps the game’s turning point came just seconds into the second quarter with Point Loma holding a 7-3 lead. After a Pointers’ score, cornerback Josh Sakover stepped in front of a Vaquero pass and made a spectacular return, as penalty flags flew from several directions. Sakover nearly scored, reaching the El Capitan 5-yard line. Following the interception, a Vaquero player remained down at midfield in front of his team’s bench and after the assessment of two major penalties, the Pointers found themselves backed up against their own goal. This was a 90-yard difference that all but stifled an opportunity to extend the lead to 14-3. The injured El Capitan player was taken from the field by paramedics following a lengthy delay. When play finally resumed, the Point Loma drive ended with an interception. Aided by a major facemask penalty against a Pointer defender, the hosts scored on a short wildcat formation play to take a 9-7 lead. The Pointers’ next possession resulted in a fumble. And on their final possession before the half, they were set back by 30 yards in penalties on a play ending at the El Capitan 15-yard line. At halftime, one observer estimated an indecisive officiating crew had assessed the Pointers 150 yards in penalties. Officials huddled to discuss almost every flag, taking back several calls against the hosts.  “Nobody gave up,” said senior wide receiver/defensive back Hunter Hirsch, who contributed four special teams tackles. “We still played as hard as we could.” Pointer fortunes turned in the third quarter when they recovered an El Capitan punt and scored on an 8-yard McKaveney to Mize pass, giving them their final lead at 14-9. El Cap, however, came back with a hook and ladder scoring play that covered 35 yards.  With a two-point conversion, the hosts jumped back in front to stay, 17-14. Two big scoring plays in the fourth quarter sealed the Pointers’ fate. A 75-yard touchdown pass on which El Capitan’s Tyrone Wiggins juked a Pointer defender after the catch was followed later by a Wiggins 55-yard interception return for the final Vaquero points. “We’re definitely going to learn from the film, correct our mistakes and come out fired up against Scripps (Ranch),” said Hirsch. Hastings was succinct. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ll get better next week,” he said. POINTERS POUND PATRICK HENRY Prior to their loss against El Capitan, Point Loma moved to 2-0 with a 54-0 win at Patrick Henry on Sept. 11. The visiting Pointers raced to a 41-0 halftime lead before trotting away with a 54-0 thrashing in the Patriots’ home opener. In that game, the Pointers’ first-half blitz included six touchdowns, two of which were scored by the defense.  The Pointers host Scripps Ranch (2-0) tomorrow, Sept. 24, in a 3 p.m. kickoff on Bennie Edens Field. The Falcons dealt the Pointers a 24-13 loss last year.