Two local football league champions have found the words of Point Loma High School (PLHS) football coach Mike Hastings true: “We are a very good playoff football team.” The Mar Vista Mariners (Metro/South Bay League) and Mount Miguel Matadors (Grossmont/Valley League) will be hanging league championship banners in their gyms soon — but they’ve turned in their football gear for the season after losing to the potent Pointers squad. PLHS is now hoping to keep its road streak alive tonight when the team travels to Cathedral Catholic High School to take on the Dons in a 7 p.m. kickoff. “We’re excited for the challenge,” said Hastings. “They’re a strong program and so are we.” Pointer players said they feel ready and motivated. “It’s revenge,” said senior lineman Gio Munguia of the Pointers-Dons rivalry. “We’ve got to take it to them hard.” POINTERS 34, MT. MIGUEL 10
The Dogs rode the hot arm of quarterback Sean McKaveney to a resounding victory over the turnover-prone No. 2-seeded Matadors on Nov. 26 in Spring Valley. The Pointers (9-3) were not satisfied with their No. 10 seed in the CIF Division III playoffs and served notice on the Matadors, who won the Grossmont/Valley League with a record of 8-2-1. “Everyone stepped it up in practice and we took this playoff game seriously,” said Munguia, “and it showed on the scoreboard.” After receiving a first-round playoff bye because of their seeding, the Matadors came out hot on a bone-chilling night and drove to a score with their first possession, ending with a 25-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead. “When they scored that first touchdown, we didn’t blink,” said Hastings. A highly questionable call by game officials, in fact, seemed to ignite the Dogs. After holding the Matadors deep in their own territory, the long snap on an attempted punt sailed over the kicker’s head. He picked it up, but a weak boot sailed only about 15 yards, where the Pointers pounced on the ball for an apparent first-down possession. Blaming an “inadvertent whistle,” the referees instead allowed Mount Miguel to make a second punt attempt, costing PLHS 25 yards in field position. Following the blown call, McKaveney connected with Morris Mathews for a 63-yard catch-and-run that put the ball in the Matador red zone. From there, Jaivon Griffin swept left for the final 10 yards to make it 7-7. The Matadors then turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions, three by fumbles and one on an interception by Thomas Bell. The Matadors escaped without damage after the first two turnovers, but the Pointers took advantage of the second pair to tack on two second-quarter touchdowns. On the first, Gio Martinez (a 6’4″, 220-lb. senior) delivered a bruising hit on a Matador ball carrier, who coughed up the pigskin and allowed teammate Christian Heyward to cover the ball at the Mount Miguel 27-yard line. Martinez has been a surprising recent addition to the Pointer defense from his end position, creating havoc on a regular basis in opponents’ backfields. Four plays later, McKaveney scored on the first of his two consecutive one-yard dives for a 14-7 lead. Next, a fumble recovery sent the visiting Pointers on an 86-yard drive that featured a McKaveney-to-Heyward pass reception in which the big tight end fell at the one-yard line. McKaveney’s second score and missed point-after kick gave the Pointers a 20-7 lead at halftime. Another “inadvertent whistle” on this drive cost Griffin 40 yards. After gaining 15 yards, an attempted tackle caused Griffin to roll over the Matador player. Griffin landed on his feet, running another 40 yards before the officials revealed their “phantom whistle.” An onside kick to open the second half, which they recovered, led to a 35-yard field goal by the Matadors — the only scoring of the third quarter. In the fourth, though, the Pointers struck quickly to dash the Matadors’ hopes. Following an interception by Eric Bueno, McKaveney hit Josh Sakover with a 34-yard over-the-shoulder scoring pass with 3:54 remaining. Less than a minute later, following the Pointer kickoff, Tommy Bell stepped in front of another Matador pass, sprinting 35 yards for the game’s final points. “We’ve always had a good running game at Point Loma,” said Hastings, “but tonight I think we showed we can throw the ball with great success. We were opportunistic, took advantage of the turnovers, and our defense played their butts off.” PLHS 21, MAR VISTA 7
Before Friday’s upset of Mount Miguel, the tenth-seeded Pointers paid a visit Nov. 20 to Imperial Beach, where they ousted the No. 7 seed Mar Vista, the Metro South Bay League champion, by a 21-7 margin. The CIF Division III first-round game, played on a rainy evening, proved a good setting for McKaveney, who completed seven passes for 170 yards (24.3 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. He scored the third touchdown on a one-yard dive. The chief beneficiary of McKaveney’s passes was Matt Magers, who caught five for 106 yards and the two scores. With 106 yards on the ground, the Dogs ran up 276 yards in offense. Defensively, Christian Heyward recovered a fumble and shared the lead in tackles (nine) with Gio Gonzalez.  Aaron Watkins added seven and Tevin Heyward had six.