VIKINGS BLAST-OFF OVER UC CENTURIONS TO START SEASON

BY ROB STONE
LA JOLLA (CA) VILLAGE NEWS
SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

The University City (UC) Centurions (2-1) suffered another tough loss to the La Jolla Vikings (2-1), 42-14, in a non-league football game at La Jolla’s annual Blast-Off on Friday, Sept. 14. The Vikings haven’t lost to UC since 1992.

“Coming into the contest, we felt that the Centurions were a pretty good football team,” La Jolla coach Dave Ponsford said. “We took advantage of a few mistakes and jumped on some opportunities.”

The Vikings did indeed jump out to an early lead behind the play of Jerrell Agnew. The senior running back scored from both 3 and 12 yards out to give La Jolla a 14-0 first quarter edge.

“Some strange turn of events kind of worked against UC,” Ponsford said.

Such as when Viking junior linebacker Henry Nawahine fell on a fumble in the end zone with 3:34 left in the first quarter to extend the La Jolla lead to 21-0.

“That play was basically set up because of our special teams,” Ponsford said. “We punted deep into Centurion territory, so we didn’t have to travel very far for that touchdown.”

Agnew didn’t have to travel all that far, either, on a 13-yard run for the Vikings next touchdown that made the score 28-0 just eight seconds into the second quarter.

“I think that may have put UC in a hole,” Ponsford said.

With 1:37 remaining in the second quarter, Cassius Mathius attempted to dig the Centurions out. The senior defensive back returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown to cut the gap to 28-6.

“We thought it was going to be closer than it was,” Ponsford said. “But, we had some things go our way.”

Like having Agnew answer Mathius’ return with an 85-yard kickoff return of his own just 19 seconds later to pad the La Jolla cushion to 35-6 heading into the locker room at halftime.

After the intermission, it was more of the same as the Vikings continued to sail along. With 10:16 left to play in the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Matt Mulvey called his own number from one yard away as La Jolla moved out to a 42-6 advantage.

“Right now, my challenge is to make sure that we keep working hard,” Centurion coach Patrick Coleman said. “I use a lot of examples in practice about how players like LaDanian Tomlinson and Jerry Rice always strive to get better.”

If it’s any consolation to Coleman, UC did show signs of improvement as the game went on, which is more than can be said for the effort put forth by Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers during their trip to see the New England Patriots last Sunday.

With 5:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, junior quarterback Skyler Dougherty delivered a 24-yard touchdown to junior running back Andrew Swasey and a 2-point conversion to senior wide receiver Genaro Ramirez to finish the scoring. In addition to his four touchdowns, Agnew led the Viking ground attack (20 carries, 135 yards), while junior kicker Lee Abelkop was a perfect six for six (career-high) on PAT’s.

CENTURIONS SPEAR SAN MARCOS KNIGHTS

BY ROB STONE
LA JOLLA (CA) VILLAGE NEWS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2007

The University City (UC) Centurions defeated the San Marcos Knights in a non-league football game for the second year in a row, 49-20, at San Marcos on Friday, Sept. 7.

“Because they have lights, we played them at their place last season as well,” UC coach Patrick Coleman said. “We won 34-27 last year, but it came down to a double-reverse pass that took us all the way down to the 1-yard line and we punched it in on the next play for the winning touchdown.”

No such dramatics were needed this time around, as the Centurions opened the scoring when junior quarterback Skyler Dougherty fired a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Genaro Ramirez to give UC an early 6-0 first quarter lead.

“We definitely have the ability to be very good,” Coleman said.

Dougherty illustrated just how good the Centurions could be later in the first quarter when he darted into the end zone from 1 yard out to extend the UC advantage to 14-0.

“We need to stay level-headed, in reality, and keep working hard,” Coleman said.

In the second quarter, the Knights also continued to work hard as they sandwiched two touchdowns of their own around a 15-yard touchdown run by Centurion Alex Scarlett to cut the UC edge to 21-14 heading into the locker room at halftime.

“Right now, my challenge is to make sure that we don’t get too overconfident,” Coleman said.

That can be a nice problem for Coleman to have, because it means that he’s coaching a talented team. After the intermission, it would’ve been easy for the Centurions to get cocky once it became the Alex Scarlett show. The senior running back added three more touchdowns and a 2-point conversion to his earlier score as UC pulled ahead 42-14.

“San Marcos is a North County team and most of their kids grow up playing Pop Warner football and a lot of ours don’t,” Coleman said. “However, we did set the tone early and often.”

The Knights may not have struck often, but they did strike late. It was a case of too little too late, though, as junior running back Martin Ramirez reached out for an 18-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Josue Rios.

In addition to his four touchdown runs, Scarlett led the Centurions with 125 yards rushing on 17 carries. Meanwhile, Dougherty completed 3-of-5 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown and senior kicker Kyle Berner booted five extra points for UC.

For San Marcos, Rios completed 11-of-21 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, while senior running back Louie Engebrits led the Knight rushing attack with 42 yards and a touchdown of his own on 15 carries.

With the win, the Centurions improve their record to 2-0, while San Marcos falls to 1-1.

“We beat the (Montgomery) Aztecs in our first home game of the season,” Coleman said. “Montgomery is a very physical football team. They defeated us, 31-3, at their place last year.”

“So, I was very happy to see our guys play just as physical. That’s been the missing link for this team. We’re showing that this season we’re going to be physical.”

Which would you choose? International Soccer or high school basketball?
I faced this dilemma recently. I had a parking pass and media credential
waiting for me at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium for the big international
soccer match between Mexico and Venezuela. But I didn't go. Mexico ended
up winning 3-1. Instead, I got my Dad in with me to a high school
basketball playoff game between La Jolla and Mission Bay. Mission Bay
took down La Jolla 77-71 and moved on to face St. Augustine in the CIF
Division III Finals at USD's Jenny Craig Pavillion. I guess I'm just
more of a basketball guy than a soccer guy and I figured my Dad being a
graduate of Mission Bay, would get a kick out of it. I also thought
about what would be the better memory down the road? Going to a big
international soccer game by myself or spending quality time with my Dad
at a high school basketball game that just so happened to be his alma
mater?

Which would you choose? International Soccer or high school basketball?
I faced this dilemma recently. I had a parking pass and media credential
waiting for me at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium for the big international
soccer match between Mexico and Venezuela. But I didn't go. Mexico ended
up winning 3-1. Instead, I got my Dad in with me to a high school
basketball playoff game between La Jolla and Mission Bay. Mission Bay
took down La Jolla 77-71 and moved on to face St. Augustine in the CIF
Division III Finals at USD's Jenny Craig Pavillion. I guess I'm just
more of a basketball guy than a soccer guy and I figured my Dad being a
graduate of Mission Bay, would get a kick out of it. I also thought
about what would be the better memory down the road? Going to a big
international soccer game by myself or spending quality time with my Dad
at a high school basketball game that just so happened to be his alma
mater?