Two more wins.
That is all that stands between the Point Loma Pointers and the school’s first CIF football championship since 1991.
One of those wins must come Friday night (Nov. 18) on the No. 2 seeded Pointers turf when they encounter No. 3 seed Del Norte High School in a Div. III semifinal battle. The Nighthawks (7-4) finished third (3-2) in the Palomar League and are averaging 31 points per game while yielding 25. The Pointers are 9-2 overall including 6-0 on Bennie Edens Field.
By comparison, the Pointers are averaging 41 points per game, giving up 16.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. with the winner headed to Southwestern College Nov. 25 for a 2 p.m. title game against either No. 4 Bishop’s or No. 1 University City, a team that edged the Pointers 13-7 to win the City League championship. If they win tonight, the Pointers would relish a rematch with the Centurions.
The Pointers, after a first round bye, came out hot last Friday night when they bounced No. 10 Morse from the postseason with a no-doubt 42-14 drubbing that included touchdowns from six different players, two of them defenders. Scoring on their first possession, the Pointers built a 21-0 lead after one quarter and upped it to 35-6 at halftime.
“We prepared for them to come hard,” said senior lineman Jack Tuohy after the game. “We changed a bunch of offensive and defensive schemes. If they were going to come hard, we were going to come harder. I think the future is looking really bright for us. We just need to keep our heads down and keep grinding. My O-line guys have been great all year.”
Ironically, the top runner for the Pointers didn’t score a touchdown. Noah Turbeville totaled 145 yards on nine carries for a 16.1 yards per carry average and a long run of 53 yards. Turbeville lost much of his junior year and two games this season to injury but the determined senior currently leads the Pointers with 653 yards and an 8.4 average for the season.
But he was not the only Pointer whose stats were impressive.
QB Max Newbegin completed four of six throws for 102 yards, two of them for touchdowns. One was a 52-yarder to Drake Cobb for the opening score and the other to Noah Allen for 30 yards on the final Pointer score.
Brady Allen ran twice for 23 yards, returned a punt for 11 yards, and on defense had eight tackles, three for loss, a sack and scored on a 41-yard pass interception on the final play of the first half.
Cameron Lucas ran for eight yards, caught a pass for 11, and on defense had five tackles and stunned the Tigers when he pried the football from a Morse running back and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.
Chase Lowary ran for 10 yards and a touchdown and had five tackles including one for loss and a sack on defense.
Aaron Lee ran three yards for a touchdown, returned a punt for 20 yards and put two of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, averaging 59.5 yards on six attempts.
Rocket Robinson had 10 tackles to lead the Pointers, Emmett Jacobson and Eli Montgomery each had five tackles, Nate Terzoli had four tackles including one for loss and a sack, River Abenroth and Max Umberg each totaled three tackles.
Jack Kelly, who has been out since an injury early last season requiring surgery, has returned to action during playoffs. He recorded a sack and two quarterback hurries.
“I’m just really proud of our kids,” head coach Joel Allen said after a post-game talk with his players. “I could tell in our pre-game talk the team was 100% locked in. They’ve put in hundreds and hundreds of hours of sacrifice and selflessness. Many teams put in the work but don’t get to reap the rewards. I hope they realize they’ve earned it but they have to go out and play the game. Whoever we play next week will be a good team. We have our work cut out for us and we’ve got to keep with our routine.”
