The Pointers played their second away, night game in as many weeks, and once again drove home victorious.
The game was won on defense, with key stops from both squads in the red zone. Perhaps the biggest play of the game was when senior running back Lester Arnold (after scoring all three Pointer TDs) intercepted a long pass in the end zone, shutting the door on the Vikings.
“It’s 11 guys out there, but it sure is nice having #26 out there,” said head coach Mike Hastings. “He’s a heart and guts player “” I can’t say enough good things about him.”
La Jolla started off with the ball but ended their series with a punt. Point Loma, wisely, chose to run the ball repeatedly, ending up with Arnold’s 33-yard touchdown run halfway through the first quarter. La Jolla looked poised to score on their next possession, but when the teams switched ends, the score was still 7-0.
The second quarter found the Vikes airing the ball out, and if not for a few key penalties, wide receiver Igor Seriba might have grabbed 6 points after some long receptions. La Jolla ended up getting on the board on the strength of a 22-yard field goal by Andres Liera midway through the quarter.
“We were down Luis Villavicencio this week, but [junior running/defensive back] Josh Wade really stepped it up and did a great job running the offense. One of our sayings is ‘Hold the rope’ and we held it today for Luis,” Hastings said. “With another good week of physical therapy on his sprained ankle he should be back.”
Both teams seemed to get small amounts of momentum going, only to have the opposing defense shut them down. La Jolla quarterback Casey Richmond connected on a few passes, then got sacked by senior defensive end Evan Barrett, one of his two for the night, to stop the progress 33 yards from the goal.
Point Loma linebacker Alex Blair was waiting during the next Viking possession for his turn at a sack to once again halt the drive. Not to be outdone, Alex Holmes also made his presence known to Richmond during the game, with a sack during a key play.
“We came out and practiced hard all week. We wanted to play hard and tried to execute on the field as best we could,” Wade said. “I was working on my coverage of the deep ball all week, I know they like to throw over the top and throw fades.”
The second half was much louder, with both teams and fans getting into the game with more enthusiasm. The excitement spilled out onto the gridiron with hard hits and continued defensive dominance during the third quarter. Both teams had trouble scoring, 3-and-outs happening constantly, keeping both punters active.
The Pointers kept the ball on the ground, with Wade and Arnold alternating duties, finally ending up fourth-and-inches-deep in Viking territory. Instead of a quarterback keeper, the Dogs handed the ball to Arnold, who broke out 13 yards, setting up his 14-yard TD scramble. The next score was Arnold’s third of the game on a long 55-yard sprint, with Devon Zink punching in for 2 points to make up for the missed PAT earlier.
“It was a tough game. La Jolla came out and played hard “” it’s league time now and we are league champions, so everybody is coming after us,” Arnold said. “Coach gave us a talk at half time and told us to step it up, so we came out harder and knew that we could do better.”
La Jolla was now down 21-3, but fullback Ja’rodd Watson seized the opportunity on a 65-yard run up the left sideline to give the Vikings their first touchdown. On the next series, LJ defensive back Blake Shelbourne barely stopped Arnold from scoring again after breaking though.
The La Jolla offense finally got it going, with repeated receptions by Seriba on both sides of the field, followed by wide receiver David Harpster’s 12-yard reception and Watson’s 18 yard rumble. La Jolla went for the long ball to the corner of the end zone, but Seriba was covered well by Arnold, who intercepted the ball and ran out to the 23-yard line for the game-concluding play.
“When we needed to we tightened up and came up with big plays. That’s the key to this team. We’re young but growing every week,” Hastings said. “The more confidence we get, the better we’re gonna be. It’s really nice to get a Western League 1-0 start.”
ˆThe Pointers come back home to play against Crawford High Friday, Oct. 6, at 3 p.m.