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GREATEST SUPER BOWL TEAMS

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:46:22 -0600

(1) 1970's Pittsburgh Steelers

(2) 1980's San Francisco 49ers

(3) 1990's Dallas Cowboys

(4) 1985 Chicago Bears

(5) 1994 San Francisco 49ers

(6) 1986 & 1990 New York Giants

(7) 1997 & 1998 Denver Broncos

(8) 1982 & 1987 Washington Redskins

(9) 1999 & 2001 St. Louis Rams

(10) 1996 & 1997 Green Bay Packers

(11) 2007 New York Giants

(12) 2001, 2003, 2004, & 2007 New England Cheatriots

1979 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:49:26 -0600

The quarterback was Dan Fouts...

The man who left no doubts...

That he could hit all the wideouts...

Always knowing their whereabouts...

Led to all those routs...

Whether it was John Jefferson...

Charlie Joiner, John Floyd...

Artie Owens, or even...

Larry Burton...

They could all leave...

The opposing defenses...

A hurtin'...

Tight Ends like...

Kellen Winslow, Bob Klein...

And Greg McCrary...

Were downright scary...

Running backs such as...

Lydell Mitchell, Clarence Williams...

Mike Thomas, Hank Bauer...

Bo Matthews, and Don Woods...

Were the goods...

But, everybody...

Knew that Bauer...

Gave the special teams...

Power...

And that Thomas...

Could really move and groove...

PETCO KICKS OFF INTERNATIONAL SOCCER (1-6-05)

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 04:35:53 -0600

The Mexican National Men's Soccer Team has been to Qualcomm Stadium plenty of times, but never to Petco Park---until now.

A Dec. 21 announcement revealed that Mexico will kick off its 2005 U.S. Tour with a game against Sweden on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 8 p.m., at Petco.

The announcement was made by Soccer United Marketing, the San Diego Padres and the City of San Diego during a press conference at Petco Park’s Omni Premier Club.

Sponsored by Coca-Cola, the game marks the first major non-baseball sporting event held at Petco Park. Petco is being used because of a possible conflict with Charger playoff games at Qualcomm Stadium.

Both Sweden and Mexico are currently in the midst of regional qualifying games for the 2006 World Cup, which will be held in Germany. Mexico, coached by Ricardo Lavolpe, concluded the semifinal round of CONCACAF qualifiers without a loss. CONCACAF is a confederation of North American, Central American, and Caribbean soccer associations.

Mexico will use the game against Sweden as preparation for its first two qualifiers of the final round: versus Costa Rica Feb. 9, and facing the United States March 26.

Sweden, coached by Lars Lagerback, stands in first place in Group 8 of World Cup qualifying with nine points (three wins, one loss). Lagerback and his team will travel to the United States in preparation for two upcoming World Cup qualifiers versus Bulgaria, March 25, and Malta, June 4.

Sweden has traditionally been one of Europe’s strongest sides, qualifying for three of the last four World Cups since 1990.

Mexico, ranked seventh in a recent world ranking poll, and Sweden, ranked 13th, have met on seven occasions, with the first meeting resulting in a 3-0 Sweden win during the 1958 World Cup. In the all-time series between the two countries, Mexico has won twice, with Sweden claiming three victories and two ties. Sweden also holds the all-time edge in goals scored with seven, compared to Mexico’s five.

The most recent encounter between Mexico and Sweden took place during the summer of 1994 in Fresno just prior to the 1994 World Cup, which was played on U.S. soil. On that occasion, Mexico defeated Sweden 2-1.

Sweden is no stranger to Southern California, given that San Diego served as their home base during the 1994 World Cup, where they enjoyed a historic run to the semifinals until they were eliminated by the eventual champion, Brazil. Mexico’s last visit to the San Diego area came in March 2003, when they tied Paraguay 1-1.

Mexico holds an all-time record of 11-1-3 in San Diego. Their first trip to San Diego was in 1993, when they defeated the Ukraine 2-1.

“It will be interesting to see how soccer plays out at Petco, although we have no reservations,” Nelson Rodriguez, senior vice president of Soccer United Marketing, said at the press conference. “We’ll have a better understanding of that after the event. But we’ve had very good dealings with the Padres and that kind of relationship is important, to know you have a partner in the market.”

Tickets are priced between $25 and $50, with the majority of seats at $30. Padres season-ticket holders will get first dibs on seats.

To buy tickets, visit Petco Park’s box office, 100 Park Blvd., call (877) FRIAR-TIX (374-2784), or visit www.petcoparkevents.com on or after Jan. 8.

2003 SAN DIEGO PADRES

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:14:41 -0600

The San Diego Padres had real high expectations about this time last year. Those hopes came crashing down, though, in the form of a 66-96 last place finish in the National League West.

This season, the team’s attitude can once again be described as optimistic. Cautiously optimistic, that is, as they prepare to open spring training this Friday, Feb. 14, in Peoria, Arizona.

“Because of all the injuries last year, some of our young players got a chance to play and gain some experience,” said Padres general manager Kevin Towers. “If there was a silver lining, that was it.”

The arm ailments of starting pitchers Kevin Jarvis and Brian Tollberg, for example, gave both left-hander Oliver Perez and right-hander Jake Peavy an opportunity.

“They were able to showcase what they had already been doing in the minor leagues,” said Towers. “They came up here and did a tremendous job considering they were only rookies.”

What a difference a year makes. No longer rookies, Perez and Peavy are now looked upon as two of the anchors of this season’s five-man starting rotation.

The main anchor, however, is ace right-hander Brian Lawrence. Dubbed with the nickname B-Law by Padres broadcaster Matt Vasgersian, Lawrence appears ready to become a dominant pitcher for years to come.

“Brian Lawrence will be our starting pitcher on opening day,” announced Padres manager Bruce Bochy.

The other two spots in the rotation should come down to a battle between right-handers Jarvis, Tollberg, Adam Eaton, Francisco Cordova, Ben Howard, Dennis Tankersley, and Charles Nagy. Eaton, who came back from elbow surgery to pitch the last half of last season, is almost a lock for the No. 4 spot.

It now looks as if the most important acquisitions that Towers made in the offseason were in the bullpen. That’s because right-handed closer Trevor Hoffman had shoulder surgery last October and might have to go under the knife yet again.

Fortunately, Towers was able to pick up veterans like right-handers Jay Witasick and Jaret Wright, as well as left-hander Jesse Orosco.

“It became a priority for us to strengthen the bullpen in the offseason,” said Towers. “We don’t want our starting pitchers to always have to pitch late into ballgames.”

Witasick is a former Padre who was traded to the New York Yankees two years ago, before moving on to the San Francisco Giants last season. Ironically, both the Yankees and Giants made it to the World Series while Witasick was with them.

Besides being a good luck charm, Witasick is the perfect guy to assume the closer’s role until Hoffman is healthy. Armed with a fastball that exceeds 90 miles per hour, he should be able to keep hitters off balance.

Wright was once a top pitcher on a Cleveland Indians team that reached the World Series in 1997. A starter in his days with the Indians, Wright is being converted into a reliever by the Padres.

“We see him as possibly another Eric Gagne,” said Towers, referring to the former starter who thrived after being moved to the bullpen by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Despite having been around for awhile and having had arm problems, Wright is still considered relatively young at age 27. Orosco, on the other hand, will turn 46 on April 21, but can still get hitters out.

“It seems like all people want to talk about is how old Jesse Orosco is,” said Bochy. “I’m just glad we have him on our side. I got tired of seeing him come out of the bullpen for other teams.”

Competing for the other spots in the bullpen will be Mike Bynum, Clay Condrey, Eric Cyr, Luther Hackman, Brandon Villafuerte, Kevin Walker, and Rob Ramsay. Bynum and Condrey could also be used as spot starters if needed.

On offense, the Padres don’t have much speed or power, so finding a way to score runs will be key. This is where Davey Lopes and Dave Magadan come in.

Lopes is back as the Padres first base coach after a stint as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. With Lopes coaching first for the Padres in 1999, Damian Jackson, Eric Owens, Reggie Sanders, and Quilvio Veras each had over 30 stolen bases and Ruben Rivera added 20-plus.

Unfortunately for Lopes, he doesn’t have that kind of speed available to him on this team. That means his focus will have to shift towards getting the players to take the extra base and exhibit smart baserunning.

Magadan is in his first year as the Padres hitting coach. He played for the Padres from 1999-2001 and was their minor league hitting instructor a year ago.

Doing the little things is what Magadan needs from Padres hitters this season. Things like working the count, being able to lay down a bunt when called upon, and moving runners along.

The starting lineup is pretty much set with Ryan Klesko at first base, Mark Loretta at second base, Ramon Vasquez at shortstop, Sean Burroughs at third base, and Bubba Trammell, Mark Kotsay, and Phil Nevin in the outfield. The catching position is still up for grabs, however, between Gary Bennett, Wiki Gonzalez, and Michael Rivera.

Klesko should have a big year provided he and Nevin stay healthy. If nothing else, Nevin’s switch to the outfield could keep him healthier because he won’t be diving around the hard infield for ground balls.

Loretta, Vazquez, and Kotsay probably have the best speed among the starters and all three are good contact hitters, as is Burroughs. Burroughs, like Nevin, has to stay off the disabled list and Trammell needs to rebound from an off year or risk being replaced in the starting lineup.

Bennett might be the best of the three catchers, but that’s still to be determined. Some of the more interesting names fighting it out for reserve duty include: Bernie Castro, Jose Flores, Dave Hansen, Donaldo Mendez, Brian Buchanan, Xavier Nady, Shane Victorino, Homer Bush, Keith Lockhart, Chris Sexton, Brady Anderson, and Roberto Kelly.

KNIGHTS PULL CURTAINS ON PATRIOTS

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 05:22:17 -0600

The tenth-ranked and second-seeded Bishop’s Knights (12-0) upset the top-seeded Christian Patriots (11-1), 17-7, for Bishop’s third CIF championship in team history at Qualcomm Stadium on Friday, Dec. 7. The Knights have two section titles in Div. IV, but this was the first in Div. V for a school that was playing eight-man football not too long ago.

“This is the best way to go out,” Bishop’s senior quarterback Tommy Wornham (five carries, 19 yards, 5-of-15 passing, 45 yards, one TD) said. “You couldn’t have written this script.”

Christian senior Sam Hernandez probably wishes that he could’ve rewritten the part that led to the Knights’ first score. In the second quarter, Hernandez was back to punt and had to do everything in his power just to prevent a bad snap from sailing into the end zone for a potential Bishop’s safety or touchdown.

Hernandez was able to retrieve the ball and get off a punt, but with the good field position, the Knights were still able to capitalize on senior Tim Costello’s 31-yard field goal. That gave Bishop’s a 3-0 lead with 8:51 left in the second quarter.

“We all came together as a team,” said Costello (nine carries, 27 yards, one TD, two catches 22 yards, two PATs, one INT, 44.8 yard avg. on four punts). “We all got bigger. We all hit the weight room hard.”

It was Erick Allen (11-of-22 passing, 159 yards) who was hit hard by Knights like Austin Rutherford and Zach Franz on the Patriots’ next possession. In fact, Franz sacked the sophomore quarterback to end Christian’s third drive of the game.

The battle for field position continued as the two ball clubs exchanged turnovers, with Wornham being intercepted by senior linebacker Patrick Kelly (10 tackles) and Allen being picked off by senior defensive back Saron Hood (one catch, seven yards on offense) to end the first half. After the intermission, the Patriots received the ball first as the teams came out of their respective locker rooms and promptly put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive in 4:58 to go up 7-3 with 7:02 remaining in the third quarter.

The drive culminated with Christian senior running back Lawrence Walker (21 carries, 100 yards) waltzing into the end zone from 6 yards out. It was set up by Allen’s 27-yard pass to Lawrence Walker and 31-yard strike to sophomore wide receiver Manny Walker (five catches, 82 yards).

“They had ten people in the box stopping the run,” Lawrence Walker said. “We weren’t expecting that at all. It was a hard-fought game.”

Bishop’s countered quickly on Costello’s 2-yard touchdown run with 3:31 left in the third quarter. The 11-play, 68-yard drive put the Knights back ahead 10-7.

“We’ve been through it all, the good and the bad,” Wornham said. “This is definitely the good.”
Bishop’s experienced more of the good when Wornham found freshman tight end Micah Seau (two catches, 16 yards) on a play-action pass for a 2-yard touchdown out of a full-house backfield with 4:22 remaining in the fourth quarter to pretty much seal the victory for the Knights.

“I’m at a loss for words right now,” Costello said. “Like Tommy said, not too long ago, we were playing eight-man.”

Jacob Kelly (16 carries, 63 yards) and Mike P. Jensen (5 carries, 27 yards, nine tackles on defense) also performed well for Bishop’s, as did Hernandez (three catches, 28 yards) and Charles Thompson (14 carries, 47 yards) for the Patriots.

Notes: Costello, compared to Paul Hornung by Channel 4 San Diego commentator Chris Ello, accounted for 11 of his team’s 17 points and had a critical interception in the fourth quarter to help secure the win…A fake punt backfired for Christian on a 4th-and-2 with 6 minutes left when Hernandez was stopped 2 feet short…Costello and Kelly have been named the Coastal League’s Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively…Only three running backs have gained more career rushing yards than Lawrence Walker’s 5,112…The Patriots were the defending Div. V champions, having upset the Francis Parker Lancers last year…Christian had won seven of the past eight meetings with the Knights over a span of 15 years, but were actually rated below Bishop’s by Cal-Hi Sports…Their regular-season meeting was taken off the schedule due to the wildfires…It’s been 24 years since the high school football championship games were played on a Friday at Qualcomm (attendance in 1983 was 12,783…21,603 was the announced crowd for this year’s games).

JAGUARS POUNCE ON VIKES IN CIF DIV. IV SEMIFINAL

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:11:23 -0600

The second-seeded La Jolla Vikings (6-5) suffered a tough 42-0 season-ending loss to the third-seeded Valley Center Jaguars (8-3) during a torrential downpour in the CIF Division IV football semifinals at La Jolla’s Gene Edwards Stadium on Friday, Nov. 30.

“We owe a lot to the ball boys,” Valley Center junior quarterback Tyler Bernard (8-of-12 passing, 203 yards, four TDs) said. “They changed our balls out. Got our balls dry. Because of them we were able to move the ball effectively in the rain.”

The Vikings received the ball first, though, and tried to move it effectively on the opening possession of the game. However, after two short runs by senior running back Jerrell Agnew and an 8-yard pass reception by junior wide receiver Joshua Rothman, the drive stalled and La Jolla was forced to punt.

The Jaguars responded with a 65-yard drive of their own that culminated with Bernard firing an 8-yard bullet for a touchdown to junior wide receiver James Johnson (six catches, 187 yards, four TDs). That gave Valley Center an early 7-0 lead with 7:31 left in the first quarter.

The Vikings got the ball back, but after Agnew and senior running back Ja’Rodd Watson ran for a combined 21 yards on five rushing attempts, La Jolla had to bring on the punting unit once again.

The Jaguars came right back and matched the lightning in the sky with their own version of thunder and lightning. In fact, this time it took Valley Center all of two plays to light up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree.

Sophomore running back Stanton Upson (14 carries, 73 yards) ran upfield for a five-yard gain before a 74-yard bomb from Bernard to Johnson extended the Jaguar edge to 14-0 with 4:19 remaining in the first quarter. It was at about this point in the game that the skies decided to open up again, taking the Viking crowd (what little there was of it to begin with) and any home field advantage out of the contest.

“La Jolla beat us 23-20 in the second game of the season,” Bernard said. “But we may have had a little bit of jet lag because we had just got back from beating Kamehameha (36-0) in Hawaii.So this rematch meant everything to us. We had a hard week of practice.”

Apparently, practice makes perfect where Bernard and Johnson are concerned. The Valley Center playmaking tandem sandwiched two more touchdowns around a 3-yard score by junior running back Justin Lawrence (13 carries, 87 yards, two TDs) to put the Jaguars up 35-0 in the second quarter.

“The weather wasn’t that bad,” Bernard said. “It was probably worse for the spectators because you guys had to stand there and get soaked. At least we were able to move around.”

Later in the second quarter, Lawrence moved around quite well on a 47-yard touchdown run to pad the Valley Center cushion to 42-0 as the two teams headed to the locker room for cover at halftime. After the intermission, it was more of the same as the rain continued to pour and the Jaguars continued to pour it on and pretty much seal the victory.

The Vikings squandered their best opportunity to break the shutout early in the fourth quarter.

On 1st-and-goal from the 6-yard line, La Jolla senior quarterback Matt Mulvey bootlegged left, but fumbled the ball out of the end zone for a turnover and a touchback.

“I thought Johnson was the best player on the field,” La Jolla coach Dave Ponsford said. “He, Bernard, Lawrence, and Upson are all underclassmen. We’ll be seeing them all again when we play each other next season. We play them every year now, but this was the first time it wasn’t close.”

CENTURIONS, WARHAWKS BATTLE FOR CENTRAL LEAGUE

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:38:26 -0600

The University City (UC) Centurions suffered a tough 38-35 shootout loss to the Madison Warhawks in a Central League football game at Madison on Friday, Nov. 9.

“We wanted to dominate the game,” Warhawk sophomore quarterback Lester Fontenette (4-of-8 passing, 1 touchdown) said.

Early on, the Madison rushing attack was dominant as junior running back Robbie Rouse (23 carries, 252 yards) ripped off a 54-yard touchdown run to give the Warhawks a 7-0 lead with 1:14 left in the first quarter.

“We came out to play football tonight,” Fontenette said. “We were ready.”

Senior defensive back Phillip Fowler proved that he was ready by intercepting a pass and returning it for a 31-yard touchdown with 1:01 remaining in the first period. That put Madison up by a margin of 14-0.

“You have to give UC credit,” Fontenette said. “They could’ve quit, but they battled back.”

The Centurions came right back when junior quarterback Skyler Dougherty delivered a 9-yard touchdown pass to Travis Parkyn to cut the Warhawk cushion to 14-7 with 10:33 left in the second quarter. The touchdown was set up on a 35-yard run by senior running back Alex Scarlett.

“UC was ready to play football too,” Fontenette said. “They came out and dominated, as well. They were a really good team.”

Scarlett looked really good rumbling for touchdowns of 25 and 16 yards, respectively. Those scores were set up on an interception and a punt return by senior defensive back Cassius Mathius moments earlier and made the score 21-14 in favor of the Centurions with 4:45 remaining in the second period.

“UC thought they were going to upset us,” Fontenette said. “They had the whole thing planned out.”

With 0:14 left on the clock, one thing the Centurions didn’t plan on was Fontenette hitting junior wide receiver Terrance Harris for a 25-yard gain to bring the ball down to the UC 2 yard line. Fontenette’s heave to Harris set up a touchdown run by senior Carlton Billingslea, tying the game at 21-21 heading to the locker room at halftime.

“I want us to make it to the CIF Finals at Qualcomm Stadium,” Fontenette said. “I want us to be dominant and show that we are not a weak team.”

After the intermission, Madison looked anything but weak on the opening drive of the second half as Fontenette fired an 11-yard scoring strike to Harris. The drive itself covered 77 yards and widened the Warhawk window of opportunity to 28-21 with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter.

“The Central League title usually comes down to either Madison (7-2, 4-0 in league play) or Coronado (6-3, 3-1),” Centurions coach Patrick Coleman said. “But last year, we were playing in the league championship game.”

This time around, UC (4-5, 2-2) was once again playing for a league title, albeit a share. After a 26-yard field goal by senior kicker Jordan Lindsey extended the Warhawk advantage to 31-21, Parkyn went to work for the Centurions. The junior found a parking spot in the end zone on a 30-yard touchdown run to slice the gap to 31-28 with 9:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“A Central League title is what we worked for,” Coleman said. “Every day in spring football and summer camp, after we huddled, we always broke by saying ‘championships.’”

Madison would have something to say about that as Fontenette forced his way in on a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Warhawks a 38-28 edge with 6:42 left in the fourth period.

“We talked about winning not only the Central League title, but also a Division III title,” Coleman said. “That’s our goal. In my opinion, if we’re not here to win championships, then what are we doing here?”

UC showed a championship mentality as Dougherty threw a 27-yard dart for a touchdown to junior running back Andrew Swasey to trim the deficit to 38-35 with 4:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“This school hasn’t won a league title in 20 years,” Coleman said. “We feel that it’s our turn.”

It looked like it was their turn when the Centurions had Madison stopped on 4th-and-6 at the Warhawk 48-yard line. But Rouse took a direct snap on a fake punt to get the first down and secure Madison’s third Central League title in four years.

TORREYS CONQUER WARRIORS AT HOMECOMING

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:30:16 -0600

With Fox 6 news anchor Marc Bailey on hand and looking on for Homecoming, the La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) Torreys (5-3, 3-0 in the Pacific League) defeated the Army-Navy Warriors (5-2, 2-1), 31-7, on Friday, Nov. 2.

“We got a homecoming win and we’re league champions once again,” LJCD coach Jeff Hutzler said. “It feels fantastic.”

Country Day’s Derek Hatfield, among others, looked fantastic in the opening minutes of the contest. The sophomore quarterback got the Torreys on the scoreboard first when he called his own number from one yard out to give LJCD an early 7-0 first-quarter lead.

Shortly thereafter, Hatfield (21 carries, 56 yards rushing and 10-of-15, 155 yards passing) hooked up with senior running back Tommy Morris (three catches, 78 yards) on a 37-yard scoring missile. That padded the Country Day cushion to 14-0 in the second quarter.

“With this being our homecoming game, there were distractions,” Hutzler said.

Later in the second quarter, sophomore running back Montell Allen managed to distract the Army-Navy defense long enough to run one in from 10 yards out to extend the Torrey advantage to 21-0.

“Because of the distractions, I think we played with a few hiccups, if you will,” Hutzler said. “We also had a week off due to the wildfires. So, this was a tough game to get ready for. We just told the team to fight through the distractions and to keep eyeing the prize.”

Senior kicker Travis Golia (four PATs) had his eyes focused in on the goalposts as he sent one through the uprights from 21 yards out to make the score 24-0 in favor of LJCD heading into the locker room at halftime.

“I’ve seen them (the Warriors) play a whole bunch of times this year,” Hutzler said. “They’re big and fast. We had a healthy dose of respect for them.”

After the intermission, Army-Navy’s Sherman Coley earned back some respect for the Warriors. The junior running back took it in on a 12-yard touchdown run to trim the margin to 24-7 in the third quarter.

Unfortunately for Army-Navy, that’s as close as they would get as Country Day senior defensive lineman John Hansbrough (two tackles, two assists) would score on a 20-yard return of a blocked punt to pretty much seal the victory.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Torreys were led by the play of Allen (four tackles, seven assists, one sack), Cody Maxwell (three tackles, seven assists), Doug Rogers (three tackles, four assists, one sack), Indi Lavarias (two tackles, four assists, one sack), Damian Bagby (four tackles, two assists), Mark Hannum (two tackles, four assists), Andy Altman (two tackles, three assists, one forced fumble), Junior Togiaso (one tackle, three assists), Connor Gibson Gerhart (one tackle, two assists, two fumble recoveries), Shanta Chaloux (one tackle, one assist), and Mike Salas (two assists and four catches, 43 yards on offense).

BUCS REIGN ON LA JOLLA'S HOMECOMING CELEBRATION

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:43:58 -0500

The Mission Bay Buccaneers (5-2-1, 2-1-1 in the Western League) spoiled La Jolla’s Homecoming, defeating the Vikings (4-3, 1-2), 16-8, in a rivalry game on Friday, Oct. 19.

“We stepped up big time,” Mission Bay coach Willie Matson said. “I was leery of this game. La Jolla has been playing so well and this being their Homecoming had to give them a little extra incentive. We always seem to play each other tough no matter what.”

“They (the Buccaneers) played well on both sides of the ball, especially up front,” Viking coach Dave Ponsford said. “They kind of handled us and pushed us around.”

In the first quarter, Mission Bay senior kicker Carlos Sanchez pushed a 36-yard field goal through the uprights to give the Buccaneers an early 3-0 lead.

“I don’t think this was our best game,” Ponsford said. “There were some things we could’ve done better. I’m not taking a darned thing away from Mission Bay, though. They came into our house and beat us fair and square.”

“La Jolla has a good team this year,” Matson said. “They’re a fine team and a complete team. I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff. I was hoping we would come out and play with intensity from the get go.”

Buccaneer senior quarterback Evan Taylor showed his passion for the game when he called his own number from one yard away in the second quarter to extend the Mission Bay bulge to 10-0.

“Our running backs came close to breaking off a big run in the first half,” Ponsford said. “We were a hair away on several plays.”

Because they couldn’t quite strike gold with a big gain for yardage, the Vikings had to settle for being down by only ten points as the two battling ballclubs headed off to their respective locker rooms at halftime.

“We just have to hold our blocks a little longer,” Ponsford said. But, they’re a good athletic team.”

After the intermission, the Buccaneers made an athletic play on a 10-yard mad dash to the end zone for a touchdown by junior running back Sam Metu (14 carries, 103 yards). That put Mission Bay up by a margin of 17-0 in the third quarter.

“I’d like to hopefully see us play them again somewhere down the road in the playoffs,” Ponsford said. “They played awfully well and deserved to win tonight. Maybe it would’ve been a different game, if we could’ve played a little bit better.”

La Jolla did play better in the fourth quarter as senior running back Jerrell Agnew hit paydirt when he ripped off a 53-yard touchdown run to cut the defecit to 16-8.

“We keyed on the main plays they were running,” Matson said. “Through good coaching, they ran their sweeps effectively in the first half. So, that forced us to get out of some of the things we wanted to do defensively. Trying to stop those main plays, led to the big run.”

“We had him cornered a couple of times,” Matson said of Agnew’s run. “He made a move and he was gone.”

Unfortunately for the Vikings, that was as close as they would get.

“We’ve been playing better in the fourth quarter,” Ponsford said. “This time, we took too long to get going. We needed to make things happen a little earlier. To our credit, we fought hard and didn’t give in.”

Sophomore Dillon Baxter had 8 carries for 83 yards for the Buccaneers.

PRACTICE MAKES BISHOP'S SCHOOL KNIGHTS PERFECT

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:14:53 -0500

The Bishop’s School Knights, ranked No.2 in Division V, remained unbeaten (5-0) with a 54-6 win over the Escondido Charter White Tigers (3-3) in a non-league football game on Friday, Oct. 5 at La Jolla High’s Gene Edwards Stadium.

“We don’t worry about where we’re ranked,” Bishop’s senior wide receiver Saron Hood said. “We just keep on working hard in practice.”

Hood himself worked over the Escondido Charter defense in the first quarter when he cradled a 5-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Tim Costello to give the Knights an early 6-0 lead.

“Our offensive line created some space and huge holes for seniors like Nicky Cox and Michael Strauss to run through,” Hood said.

Cox and Strauss scored on runs of 5 and 20 yards, respectively, to extend the Bishop’s first period advantage to 20-0.

“We may be undefeated, but we still have some tough teams left on our schedule,” Hood said.

Later in the quarter, the White Tigers were trying their best to make it tough on the Knights, as junior Joseph Kanahele corralled a 12-yard touchdown pass from senior Bryan Haskell to close the gap to 20-6.

“Our play has been good because our practices have been that way,” coach Mike David said. “This is a great group of kids.”

In the second quarter, Costello looked pretty good in connecting on two more scoring strikes with Hood. This time, they hooked up on touchdown passes of 10 and 6 yards to make the score 33-6 in favor of Bishop’s heading into the locker room at the intermission.

“Our starting quarterback, Tommy Wornham, is out with a broken clavicle,” David said. “So we can’t be caught looking too far ahead into the future. It’s an old saying, but we have to take it one game at a time, one possession at a time.”

The Knights scored on two of their possessions in the third quarter as Strauss and senior Mike Eribez each ran one in from a yard out to pad the Bishop’s cushion to 47-6.

“We’re getting better and better with our physical play,” David said. “We were a physical ball club tonight.”

In the fourth quarter, the Knights continued to get physical with the White Tigers as junior running back Stefanos Lazarider took one in from 6 yards out to seal the victory for Bishop’s.

“To be real honest, we don’t look at where we’re rated,” David said of the Knights, who are currently ranked between the Christian Patriots and the Francis Parker Lancers. “We have to focus on the team we’re playing. We prepare and get ready for that game. We can’t stop and concern ourselves with outside matters.”

In addition to hauling in three touchdown passes from Costello (6-of-8, 73 yards passing, 6 PATs), Hood (four catches, 48 yards) led Bishop's in receiving while Strauss powered the Knights's ground attack (14 carries, 180 yards, two TDs). Senior running back Joshua Robinson led the White Tigers with 18 carries for 125 yards.