The Pointers took Fallbrook by storm during first half on Sept. 9 in what looked to be a repeat annihilation “” PLHS routed Morse 49-0 Sept. 2, missing the team’s ‘steak dinner rule’ by one point).
During the second quarter, PLHS was in total control. When they ran the ball, the yards stacked up quickly, and a few big passes kept the Warrior defense on their toes. The touchdowns seemed to rain down.
Senior running back Lester Arnold made the first two touchdowns of the game. As the end of the second quarter neared, senior wide receiver Drew Callejon brought the Pointers to 21 points when he hauled in a 30-yard pass from senior quarterback Lucas Shaw, who ran the ball in from the 1-yard line less than a minute later to put the Dogs up by three touchdowns.
Point Loma was up 28-7 going into the locker room, which may have given a false sense of victory, according to the players. With so many seniors graduating last spring, it was bound to be an uphill battle early in the season with new guys learning how to keep the intensity strong.
“We laid down. We felt the game was over and we let them back in,” said senior running back Luis Villavicencio. “We need to learn to keep our heads in the game and not think we’ve won until it’s over.”
But the third and fourth quarters seemed to go Fallbrook’s way. They appeared to move the ball almost effortlessly for a time, recovering two fumbles when the Pointers were looking to score. Even with a young, somewhat untested squad, Point Loma’s coaches proved they knew how to motivate the players and stop the pendulum from swinging too far in the wrong direction.
“We don’t have any quit in us and they are a tough North County team that came here to play, hanging in there to make it a real battle,” said Head Coach Mike Hastings. “We’ve been happy with our young guys, they’re just getting better and stepping up.”
The cohesiveness of the mixed and young team has not yet been proven, though the team leaders seem to be happy with what they are seeing so far this short pre-league season.
“We’ve become a lot closer this year now that we’ve played a few games “” not as tight as last year, but we lost a lot of seniors,” Callejon said. “We’ve been playing more as a team now instead of just a bunch of talented individuals.”
The next game Saturday, Sept. 16, at 3:30 p.m. will be another home contest for the Pointers. The boys from Culver City High School will visit San Diego for the third meeting of the two teams. PLHS has the advantage so far, winning both at home and in Los Angeles last season, though it should be a great match-up and a good test for the Pointers, as the team is fast and has a wide-open offense.