As the Viking forwards and backs move in concert down the field, the formation arching out to the side and behind the ball, it is almost a thing of beauty. Senior John Hartford, filling a slot in the third of three rows leading the formation, says the teamwork among the players begins on defense — when La Jolla doesn’t even have the ball.
“We space and move forward, so when we get the ball (we’re in position and working together),” the number-eight player says. He credits the coaching staff of Ethan Willis and Ian Denham with getting “a pretty new team” working in tandem and coordinating movement in such a short time, two games after three scrimmages of a rapidly-evolving roster.
One of the newer recruits, Nathan Plaskonos, has scored a try (touching the ball down in the end zone), kind of like a touchdown in football, in each of the first two contests, Jan. 13 in a 35-7 win over Mission Vista in the season opener and Jan. 22 in a 26-12 thumping of Torrey Pines “B.”
“Part of the scoring is luck,” the beach volleyball and swim team veteran said modestly. “I happen to be there to score,” which is true when the “golden arc” is working.
The elder Plaskonos, whose younger brother Myles, a sophomore, is also in the program, is filling the number-six slot, in the third row to the far left. The three short rows are made up of forwards. Behind them, fanned out to the side, the backs move ready to run and/or pass the odd-shaped rugby ball, originally made out of a pig’s bladder.
Jaret Swerdlow, a senior coming back from a broken leg last year, credits the Vikings with distributing the ball well on good passing.
Wyn Smoole, 18, a senior with flowing locks who played defensive back for the Vikings football team, has an ironic story of how his parents eventually let him play football and rugby, both physical sports. “My brother Leed (a freshman on the team) put together a 50-slide PowerPoint for our parents on why football was safer than rugby,” he chuckles. “They bought it. Now I play football, and later, they let me play rugby.”
Smoole had his mini-breakout rugby season last year when he began to run for quick, slashing forays from his number-15 position in the back and to the side of the formation.
Consistent through La Jolla’s first games on conversions — a kick like a PAT in football that comes after tries — is Marc Oriol, a junior who makes up a healthy contingent from Point Loma High playing under the La Jolla banner. Oriol, a flyhalf and good runner, also has scored some tries, along with Sebastian Snodgrass, another Pointer junior.
Renner Smith, a compact 135-pound Viking freshman, has found his way into the “First 15” for La Jolla in his first experience trying rugby. “My job is to take the ball from the scrum and pass it back,” he said.
