Two scores of 28-7 told the story of the Pointer football team’s foray into the CIF Div. II playoffs that ended Nov. 16 on a chilly night at Poway High.
The No. 5 seed Pointers had played well a week earlier in ousting No. 12 Valley Center 28-7 at home and seemed ready to challenge the No. 4 seed Titans who had lost six straight games before receiving a first-round bye in playoff seeding. And while early play appeared to favor the Pointers, it was Poway who largely stopped the Pointer offense and found cracks in the Pointer defense to stun them 28-7. The Pointers finished with a 6-6 record.
As has been the case often, Pointer quarterbacks had little time to spot open receivers and instead ran from and dodged onrushing defenders. Against Poway, Ryder Watson completed 11 of 24 pass attempts including the Pointers’ lone touchdown to Dylan Upjohn on a play that covered 67 of Watson’s 169 total yards. Watson was intercepted twice.
Ben Kamen had a beautiful leaping catch for a 20-yard gain while Romeo Carter, who caught six balls for 128 yards against Valley Center was held to three catches for 19 yards against the Titans.
Pointer running backs ran 14 times for a total of 43 yards and longest run of 6 yards.
The Titans scored on pass plays of 49 and 86 yards and two runs by a running back who carried 16 times for 103 yards, an average of 6.4 yards per attempt.
Senior captain Yaya Yanez spoke for his teammates.
“We came out and thought we were strong, but they knew everything we were running,” he said. “It makes sense because they had two weeks to prepare and we just came off a game but that’s no excuse. We just didn’t come out and execute.”
But a playoff loss didn’t alter Yanez’s memory of his time as a Pointer.
“It was amazing,” he recalled. “I was surrounded by so many great people, great adults, great players. Everybody here was so welcoming. I joined halfway through my freshman year, ended up loving the sport and here I am playing in the quarterfinals. It was a great year and a great career but it sucks… everything comes to an end. I was one of the smallest guys, but football showed me if I put my mind to something and work hard enough I can succeed.”
Head coach Ryan Price focused on the positives.
“We won six games and got ‘The Shoe’ back from La Jolla,” Price said as his players hugged each other after the loss. “We made it to the second round of the Div. II playoffs with a young team with a lot to build on and a ton of positives to take from that. The guys learned a lot of tough lessons this year and I’m excited about the future.”
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The Pointer girls, under head coach Said Souikane, finished the regular season 10-17 overall, 2-6 in Western League, and received the No. 11 seed in Div. I.
Their run included wins over No. 6 Mission Vista (3-2) and No. 3 Christian (3-1) before dropping a semifinal match to No. 2 seed and eventual champion Eastlake (3-0).
Their success gave them a state regional berth as the No. 8 seed in Div. III where they advanced to round two after a thrilling 3-0 home victory over No. 9 University City with set scores of 25-20, 25-18, and 25-14.
But a trip to Central Valley Christian in Visalia saw the Pointers’ season end in a 3-1 loss with set scores of 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, and 25-22.
