The La Jolla High football team didn’t have a good start to the opening of league play last Friday evening, dropping a 21-14 decision to visiting Serra High.
Serra opened the scoring early in the first quarter when Viking punter Ethan Swerdlow’s punt was blocked and Serra’s Waddington Dodd picked up the loose ball and ran 22 yards for the score.
Both teams traded punts during the rest of the first quarter, and when it ended, Serra led 7-0.
The second quarter was much the same for the Vikings, as they could not get their running game going and ended up having to punt three times in the quarter.
Serra added a second quarter TD to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
The Vikings took the opening kickoff of the second half and had their best drive of the evening.
Led by the running of Jerrell Agnew and Ja’Rodd Watson, the Vikings moved the ball down to the Serra 26. Junior back Robbie Beathard ran a counter off left tackle for the 26-yard score, putting the Vikings on the scoreboard. Lee Abelkop’s PAT pulled the Vikings to 14-7.
Later down 21-7, the Vikings were able to score the only points in the fourth quarter when senior quarterback Matt Mulvey connected with junior wideout Yoshi Rothman for a 60-yard touchdown with 2:20 left in the game.
After the Vikings failed to recover the onsides kick, La Jolla could not get the ball back as Serra ran the clock out.
“I think all of our players and coaches were very disappointed on how we played,” La Jolla High head coach Dave Ponsford said. “We made numerous mistakes in all areas of our game, and it cost us dearly. On the evening, Serra was the much better team. We have to recover ourselves during the bye week this week, and prepare for a very good Lincoln team in two weeks.
“We have our work cut out for us.”
The Vikings next take the field again on Friday, Oct. 12, at Lincoln for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Meantime, The Bishop’s School continued to roll as it posted a 49-8 victory over Crawford last Friday.
The Knights got three touchdowns from Nicky Cox (5 20-yard passes, 34-yard run), while Tim Costello threw for three scores and ran (42 yards) for one.
Costello filled in for injured QB Tommy Wornham.
The defense held Crawford to 79 total yards. Micah Seau had two sacks, while Mike P. Jensen led the team with 10 tackles.
Bishop’s (4-0), which meets Escondido Charter this Friday night at 7 p.m., has outscored its opponents 203-17 to date.