The Pointer football team took fans for a virtual ride on Belmont Park’s Giant Dipper roller coaster over the past two games, first losing to La Jolla before reversing fields and clobbering Mira Mesa in a Friday the 13th showdown in back-to-back home games.
The Pointers seemed to have the Vikings under control as they went to halftime with a 14-7 lead on touchdowns by quarterback Brady Allen (62-yard run on a broken play) and an 11-yard-run by Ryan Burdine capped a 95-yard Pointer drive that ended just before the break.
The second half was a different story as the Vikings came out on fire and, aided by four Pointer fumbles and an interception, outscored the hosts 41-15 to steal both The Shoe and Eastern League championship from the Pointers by a 48-29 score.
While the Viking quarterback threw for 325 yards and six touchdowns, Point Loma actually outgained La Jolla 440-408 yards on the strength of 373 rushing yards but the Vikings left with the win.
The game was a salute to the U.S. military and first responders.
If there were any triskaidekaphobic (fear of the number 13) players on the Pointer roster it was not apparent last Friday night as the team came through with a solid rebound effort in a 50-10 Senior Night rout of Eastern League and Div. I Mira Mesa.
It was a big night for junior running back Dylan Upjohn who ran 30 and 20 yards for touchdowns and caught scoring passes of 52 and 20 yards from Allen, the former opening scoring for the Pointers after the Marauders had taken a 3-0 lead and the latter upping the halftime score to 35-10.
After the Marauder field goal, the Pointer defense took over the game.
Burdine grabbed a screen pass from Allen on the second quarter’s first play and weaved his way through defenders to score giving the Pointers a 14-7 lead.
A bizarre sequence in the second quarter saw 21 points scored in less than one minute.
First, Allen scored on the Pointers’ third try from inside the five-yard line. But on the ensuing kickoff, a Mira Mesa player took Lee’s kickoff at the five-yard line and ran 95 yards through the Pointer kick return team to bring the score to 21-10. But on the Pointers’ first play after the kickoff, Allen ran for a 70-yard score to make it 28-10. The elapsed time of this sequence: 29 seconds.
Scoring ended during running time in the final quarter when Fran Campbell took a handoff in for the game’s final points with under three minutes remaining.
For the game, the Pointers gained 355 yards (98 passing, 257 running) while the Marauders threw for just 68 yards and were a (minus)-six running for a net 62-yard total.
“(That game) last week (vs. La Jolla) left a pretty bad taste in my mouth and all the kids,'” said Pointer head coach Joel Allen. “Last week we played a great first half and this week we played two great halves. I’m proud of the kids. It wasn’t easy but they executed big plays when it counted we also ran the ball well enough to get us into short-yardage situations like third (down) and one or two to take those shots. I think our team is who we were in the first half last week and both halves tonight. I’m happy for all of our seniors on Senior Night.”
An exhausted Brady Allen, who starts on both offense and defense, spoke about his experience after being switched to quarterback in Week 4.
“I’m not really a quarterback,” Allen said, “but I have had a lot of fun with it. This has been the best year of football in my life and I’ve had fun with the most amazing group of friends I could’ve asked to be with. The coaches do a good job giving me breaks and telling me to slow down. A lot of kids go both ways so I don’t think it’s anything special.”
But that time on the field takes a toll.
“I’m definitely very sore the next morning,” he said. “We have sprints and I do my best to run them but a lot of times I’m not really able to walk for most of the weekend. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Allen, who also plays lacrosse, is the reigning league Athlete of the Year the last two seasons and says “Honestly, I love them (football and lacrosse) the same but I think my future is in football. I think it’s the greatest sport in the world but I couldn’t pick a favorite if you asked me.”
And Allen appreciates what has been done for his teammates.
“I want to thank the coaches and the parents that make it happen for us who don’t get a lot of recognition,” Allen said. “My teammates have been playing together for four years. We were freshmen when this coaching staff came in and I think it really means something to them and it means something to us too. They (coaches) are up until 3 a.m. after games watching film and breaking it down for us. Nobody sees the time and effort they put in.”
The Pointers travel to Morse for their final regular season game on Oct. 20, with a bye week on Oct. 27. On Oct. 28 pairings for CIF playoffs with rankings, sites, and opponents will be announced. Currently ranked No. 6 in Div. II, the Pointers would not draw a first-round bye awarded to the top four teams.
EXTRA POINTS
The JV is 5-3 after a 14-7 loss at Christian and a 17-8 win at home against La Jolla.
The freshman are 4-1 after road wins over Bonita Vista (39-0) and Patrick Henry (35-21). Some schools can no longer field freshman teams so games are canceled.
The new Pointer girls flag football team is 4-8 overall, and 1-5 in league after a road loss to Cathedral Catholic (35-13) and a road win over Canyon Crest Academy (18-6).
