The “Road Warriors” have finally come home. After seven weeks of bus rides to opponents’ or neutral fields, Point Loma’s Pointer football team finally had the satisfaction of playing on their own Bennie Edens Field for the first time this season. The trade-off was their opponent, new Western League rival and San Diego’s No. 1 rated Cathedral Catholic Dons. After absorbing a 53-7 beating by the county’s No. 3 team Madison last week, it might appear the Pointers were in for a long afternoon against the Dons. But except for a trio of long touchdown runs by Dons sophomore Shawn Poma, the Pointers played the Dons evenly in a 37-17 loss. “I thought our team played extremely hard today,” said Pointer head coach Mike Hastings after the game. “We gave up four big plays on defense that opened the game up for Cathedral. But I know that if they are the number one team in the county, which they are, we can play with anybody.” The Pointers even drew first blood when, after holding the Dons on the visitors’ first possession, they put together a nice drive of their own. Highlighted by a 19-yard pass completion from Kyle Grady to Alex Washington, the drive stalled on the Dons’ 10-yard line. From there, Oscar Borjon’s 27-yard field goal was good, giving his team a 3-0 lead. The Pointer lead lasted exactly 15 seconds. On the first play after the following kickoff, Poma raced 61 yards for his first touchdown and the Dons took a 7-3 lead, never to look back. Cathedral scored on its next two possessions in the second quarter, Poma eluding Pointer defenders on a 59-yard scoring run before another drive resulted in a score for a 20-3 lead. The longest Pointer play of the day followed as Pointer Michael Blakely fielded the Dons’ kickoff, darting up the middle of the field and breaking for the right sideline before being caught at the 16-yard line after an 82-yard return. A personal foul penalty on the Dons gave the Dogs a first down at the eight. On third down, Grady rolled out to his right and found wide receiver Gabe Hall in the end zone for the score, reducing the lead to 20-10 at halftime. The Pointers covered a Dons fumble early in the third quarter only to give it back two plays later with another fumble. After a Pointer punt, Poma, escaped for a 68-yard run that put his team up 27-10. The Dons scored their final points of the day before backup Pointer quarterback Anthony Karty came on to lead the Pointers on a scoring drive that resulted in the 37-17 final. “I thought in the first half especially our offense came down the field and moved the ball well,” said Hastings. “(Kyle) Grady did a good job of running the offense to set up that first field goal, which was big. We scored again after a very good (Michael) Blakely kickoff return and (Gabe) Hall had a big catch in the end zone. Poma, only 5 foot 6 inches tall and 175 pounds, totaled 220 yards and four touchdowns himself while the Pointer offense managed 166 yards. Without Poma, the Pointer defense held the county’s top-rated team to a draw. Next up for the Pointers is the 90th annual Homecoming game, this year against Christian High’s Patriots, yet another strong opponent on the Dogs’ schedule. The Eastern League-leading Patriots are undefeated (8-0 overall, 3-0 in league) including a victory over Lincoln (35-17) who defeated the Pointers earlier this season. Their offense is averaging 40 points per game. “We’re very excited and looking forward to our Homecoming game,” Hastings said. This year’s Homecoming is expected to be the last under rented lighting since the long-awaited stadium lights are now under construction. The event is a doubleheader, with the junior varsity game at 3 p.m. followed by the varsity kickoff at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28. Those planning to attend should note the Voltaire Street gate will be closed and campus parking is severely limited due to construction. Extra Points: The Pointers are 4-4 overall (1-2 in league). Two of their losses have been against Top 10 county teams (Cathedral and Madison) and they play another Top 10 team Nov. 4 at home against St. Augustine in the regular season finale.
Placekicker Oscar Borjon has been successful on all four field goal attempts this season.
The Pointer freshman (38-16) and the junior varsity team (41-7) are each 5-3 after losing to the Dons.