For the fans sitting in the packed stands at Point Loma High School Friday night, there was plenty of action to cheer about.
Point Loma was in control of every aspect of the game for all four quarters, scoring at will and moving the chains with every other play. The Pointers didn’t look like team that hadn’t played a game in weeks because of a bye and the wildfires.
“It’s been three weeks since our last game ” 21 days is a long layoff, and I’m really proud of our kids,” PLHS head coach Mike Hastings said. “I think we played good, but I think we’re just getting out legs under us again after the layoff; next week we’ll be better against Lincoln for our last league game.”
It’s very easy for teams to lose the focus and drive that keeps them winning games when they have a bye week, but to compound that with a second missed game can have tragic consequences for a squad. The relatively young Pointers showed their mettle Friday night, proving to the homecoming crowd that they are the real deal.
“We had three real good days of practice, we thought we were prepared, we made some mistakes but they outperformed us ” they’re a better ball club than us and they deserve to win,” La Jolla High School head coach Dave Ponsford said. “I am proud of them ” both our offense and defense came out and battled, that interception in the fourth quarter was nice ” the point of the matter is that our kids kept playing and I thought we represented ourselves well.”
For many at the game it was a very special homecoming celebration, as PLHS honored the 1982 varsity football team and the cheerleaders before the game and again at halftime. This year is the 25th anniversary of the squad that played an undefeated season and won the CIF Championship.
The game was lopsided, but that doesn’t mean the Vikings aren’t a good team; their three league losses are all to the top teams. The best thing about the Vikings squad may be the never-say-quit attitude of the players, even during adversity.
“I thought we just got outmatched tonight,” Ponsford said. “The point of the matter is that they’ve been taking it to everybody in our league. The consolation prize is that we came as close as anybody has come all season. We stressed at halftime that we cannot give up ” we’ve only had one team since I’ve been involved with La Jolla since the ’80s give up. We told them not to let than happen, go out there and battle back.”
The Pointers took the Viking by the horns in the first half, with senior Josh Wade scoring twice on runs of 67 and 31 yards, while sophomore Leslie Rogers added his own 30-yard sprint to make the score 21-0 going into the locker room.
The 20-minute halftime break allowed the traditional parade to roll by the stands, with convertibles transporting the court from each class sitting up on the back seats waving to the crowd. Because of difficulties with the PA system, the class talent competition was postponed to after the game, when each class represented a different era of music to the delight of the crowd.
The PLHS defense was really the solid rock this season, with more returnees than the offense and more seniors overall, but some of the younger defenders have really stepped it up as well.
Guys like sophomore defensive end Will McDonough have proven themselves this year though their consistent play on the gridiron ” with a big sack against La Jolla on Friday, the youngster has become a team leader.
“It was a good game all-around, the defense held them, in the middle our offense was amazing,” McDonough said. “This game means a lot. I talked to our seniors ” they lost to these guys a while back and they [Vikings] ruined the undefeated season. They [Pointers] were mad and they said that this game means a lot to them and if we’re gonna win one game, this is the one.”
The Vikings host Hoover Friday, Nov 9, with kickoff at 7 p.m.