After a series of tough games, the last few close until the end, the Pointers finally had a seriously dominant league match-up. PLHS beat up on Serra High School until the final play Friday, Oct. 20, winning the game 48-7.
“It was one of those statement games for us, a great team win,” said head coach Mike Hastings. “It was nice to get back into a good flow where we could feel confident about not being in one of those back-and-forth games.”
The team was looking for a big win, frustrated by previous games when they entered the locker room down at halftime and had to rally for a victory. But this time was different. Many young players had a chance to get some game action toward the end, providing the starters some rest.
It is now far enough into the season that young players are starting to make an impact, players like sophomore running back/defensive end Matt Arlington, who had previously seen more defensive action.
“I wasn’t really expecting to get in that much on offense, but the O-line made the holes for me, ” Arlington said. “It feels good to get in there on both sides of the ball, and also to score my first touchdown of the season.”
The game started off slow, with the first points coming on a 20-yard pass from senior quarterback Lucas Shaw to senior running back Edgar Herrera with just over a minute left in the first quarter. Once the floodgates were open, however, the boys kept scoring, with the next touchdown coming a few minutes later on a run by senior running back Lester Arnold from two yards out. Arnold added the final points of the half when he dove through a mob on the three-yard line with two minutes left.
The Conquistadors were scoreless going into the halftime break, no doubt in large part to the Pointer defense, which had prepared for the game over the last two weeks by watching film.
“We practiced all week to get #21 (running back Chris Daniels) out of the game since he’s their best runner,” said senior defensive back Drew Callejon. “We took him out early, he didn’t play that much and we pretty much rolled over them after that.”
The second half was pretty much the same, and with the exception of a big-play touchdown by Serra, the defense held their ground and allowed the offense to rack up more points. The next Point Loma score came midway through the third quarter when Lester Arnold broke for 40 yards after Arlington set him on a long run. The next touchdown was reversed when Arlington dove over the line from one yard out.
The game ended on two more TDs, with senior quarterback Lucas Shaw keeping the ball to push through from the one-yard line at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was now time for the younger kids to get their hits and catches, but the excitement was far from over, with senior defensive back Chris Taylor picking up a fumble and running 34 yards to add the last touchdown of the game.
“I told the kids we’re champs for a reason “” you gotta’ go out and prove it and not play down to teams,” Hastings said. “We need to play up to our level, and I think we did that today.”
The Pointers are ready for their Homecoming game, the second under the lights in school history on Friday, Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m. They will host top-ranked Hoover, who put up a fight last year, and no doubt will be gunning for the Dogs.