The La Jolla Vikings (4-7) football team was out-quicked in suffering a tough season-ending 26-6 loss to the Madison Warhawks (11-0) in the second round of the CIF playoffs at Madison’s George Hoagland Memorial Stadium Friday, Nov. 28. “They are a very good football team,” La Jolla coach Dave Ponsford said of the Warhawks. Madison got on the scoreboard first when Fresno State-bound senior Robbie Rouse (23 carries, 280 yards, 3 TDs) opened the scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Warhawks an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Madison came right back and scored once again as Rouse took it to the house, this time from 29 yards out, to widen the Warhawk edge to 13-0. “Madison has a chance to keep going and moving on in these playoffs,” Ponsford said. “I think they can make something happen.” Something that had already happened in the game happened again as Rouse made Vikings fans’ vocal chords as quiet as a mouse when he ventured to pay dirt from 30 yards away. That made the score 19-0 in favor of the Warhawks as the two battling ballclubs headed into the locker room at halftime. After the intermission, it was more of the same. In the third quarter, junior running back Anthony Johnson caught a tight 5-yard touchdown spiral from junior QB Taylor Patrick (5-of-10, 79 yards, 1 TD) to advance the Madison advantage to 26-0. However, La Jolla would answer back in the fourth quarter as junior quarterback Zach Zlatic zigged and zagged his way into the end zone from 22 yards out. Unfortunately for La Jolla, that’s as close as the Vikings would get. “That last touchdown was kind of a face-saver for us,” Ponsford said. “We made some mistakes. But it doesn’t take anything away from the fact that our kids played with a lot of heart.” Ponsford was referencing mistakes such as when senior Henry Nawahine gave Madison possession of the ball at the 25-yard line after fumbling on the opening drive of the game. “I don’t think it mattered,” Ponsford said. “It wouldn’t have made any difference. Those guys (the Warhawks) were just better than us. That’s the bottom line.” Nawahine more than made up for it on the defensive side of the ball, logging a quarterback sack along with senior defensive end Jose Aviles and junior linebacker Andy Jones for the Vikings. Rouse (1 sack), senior defensive end Leonard Tucker (5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble), senior linebacker Tony Casillas (8 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), junior defensive lineman Nick Heath (6 tackles, 1 sack), and junior defensive end Jose Rios (2 tackles, 1 sack) had sacks for Madison, while junior linebacker Jordan Corio (8 tackles), sophomore defensive back Jeremy Hutchison (4 tackles), sophomore linebacker Jake Schmidt (4 tackles), and junior defensive back Kevin Brown (1 INT) also performed well for the Warhawks.
