No less than six different players scored touchdowns as Point Loma dominated Santana High 48-10 in the season opener for both teams.
The Sultans, coming off an 8-3 season, could do little to stop a Pointer offensive onslaught that totaled 473 yards, scoring 34 straight points after Santana took a 3-0 lead midway through the first period.
First, it was QB Jackson Emerson tossing a 68-yard touchdown pass to Drake Cobb on a crossing pattern 20 yards downfield that saw Cobb outrace defenders for a 7-3 Pointer lead. For the game, Emerson completed eight of 10 attempts for 143 yards and three touchdowns.
Brady Allen picked off a Sultan pass, returning it 10 yards before a 35-yard run by Chase Lowary set up a short touchdown run by Noah Turbeville. 14-3 Pointers.
When the Sultans were forced to punt from the end zone, Aaron Lee returned the ball 40 yards to the Sultan 12 from where a Turbeville run and pass reception by Allen covered the distance for a 21-3 lead.
Cameron Lucas picked off a second Santana pass on their next possession leading to Allen’s 37-yard scoring run and a 28-3 score.
On Santana’s next possession, the Pointers again picked a pass, Emmett Jacobson snaring the errant throw. A 38-yard run by Emerson preceded his pass to Lee for the 34-3 halftime score.
A third-quarter Emerson fumble finally gave the Sultans new life, if only for a minute, as a defender scooped up the loose ball and ran 47 yards to cut the Pointer lead to 34-10 after three quarters.
In the final quarter, Bobby Hovey grabbed the fourth Pointer interception, returning it 33 yards before Turbeville’s next-play touchdown run upped the margin to 41-10.
A sweep in the final minute by backup QB Maxim Newbegin gave the Pointers their final margin of victory.
After Lee went out with cramps, Eli Montgomery kicked the final two PATs.
Defensively, Max Umberg had five tackles and four assists plus two sacks and three tackles for loss. Nate Terzoli had four tackles, two assists plus two sacks, and two TFLs. Lowary had three tackles, four assists, and a TFL. Nicolas Vegas and Robert Wood each had a TFL and Wood recorded a sack.
Emerson, who totaled 212 yards passing and running, reflected on the game.
“We are dedicated this year,” Emerson said, “All of us, underclassmen and seniors, have put football forward. We’ve formed a brotherhood. We want to bring a winning mentality back to Point Loma football and I think it’s going to be a great year with this big win.”
Pointer coach Joel Allen also reflected on his team’s performance.
“I wish I could say I expected all that, but you just don’t know,” Allen said. “You’re practicing, you see your guys all the time. We just ran 25 plays at our scrimmage but I had a better feeling. I thought Jackson played a great game at quarterback, a world of difference from one year to another. I’m so proud of him. We didn’t have to use Chase (Lowary) and Noah (Turbeville) that much and that’s a good sign.”
EXTRA POINTS
The Pointers travel to El Centro on Aug. 26 in an attempt to reverse last year’s 37-21 loss to Central High, a game the Pointers led before a late-game collapse. The 232-mile round trip will be made on chartered buses. Then on Sept. 2, the team travels east again to Valhalla High in El Cajon. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
The Pointer junior varsity won by a 19-6 margin while the freshman lost 12-6.
