When coasting into the garage looked like the prudent course on Friday night, Oceanside Pirates head coach John Carroll stepped on the gas.

Aggressive decision-making and playcalling late in the first half helped shake the 5th ranked Pirates (7-2, 3-0 Avocado West League) out of their doldrums, and Oceanside never looked back, rolling on to a 31-2 win over the Carlsbad Lancers at renovated Simcox Field.

Oceanside sophomore quarterback Tofi Pao Pao completed 9 of his last 10 passes, finishing 13-of-18 for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Noah Tarrant complemented the air attack with 89 yards and two touchdowns rushing.

But for the game’s first 22 minutes, the Pirates looked like an offense lost at sea.

John Carroll’s team had managed to gain all of 22 total yards in six first-half series against Carlsbad’s defense. With just over a minute to play before halftime, the Pirates led 7-2 thanks to a Lancers first quarter fumble. Carlsbad had the ball, and it was time to limp into the locker room for halftime adjustments.

Instead, Carroll started calling timeouts. Three of them, on defense, all to get his sophomore quarterback and the Pirates’ struggling offense the ball back for a one-minute drill. Somewhere in North Carolina, Marty Schottenheimer rolled over in his sleep.

“We do have confidence, and we run a pretty good two-minute drill,” said Carroll.

Postgame audio interview: Oceanside head coach John Carroll

Starting at their 25 with 1:17 to play and no timeouts, the Pirates moved 75 yards in seven plays and 47 seconds, capped by a 24 yard touchdown pass to Matthew Rojas. The Lancers failed to adjust to Oceanside’s two-minute strategy, which consisted of one sideline pass after another to the Pirates’ sideline.

“Calling those three timeouts, personally, it made me wonder, but coach Carroll is a great coach,” said Tarrant.

Postgame video: Noah Tarrant and Eduardo Middleton

Pao Pao hit five of six passes on the hurry-up drive, then hit on all four of his targets in the second half, as the Pirates scored seventeen third quarter points to salt the game away. Tarrant’s 25 yard touchdown run was followed by a 25 yard scoring pass from Pao Pao to Demario Coleman (5 receptions, 65 yards, TD).

Meanwhile, the Oceanside defense, which allowed the Lancers only two first downs in the first half, intercepted three passes after halftime to completely throttle the Carlsbad scoring attack. Junior QB Tanner Wrisley made his first career start for the Lancers, completing 5 of 11 passes for 110 yards and two interceptions. Senior Cody Pinner relieved and went 1-for-5 for 12 yards and a pick.

“(Wrisley) had some nerves but did some good things,” said longtime Carlsbad head coach Bob McAllister, “they’re both in an equal battle and will battle it out in practice, we’ll see whathappens.”

A ground-oriented attack, Carlsbad (4-5, 1-2) was held to 21 yards rushing on 28 attempts.

Postgame audio interview: Bob McAllister

Combined with an El Camino loss, Oceanside’s win clinched the Avocado West League title for the Pirates. Next week, Oceanside will play El Camino for the City Championship and the bragging rights which come with it.

“The City Championship’s a big deal,” said Carroll, “No matter if you win a league championship, the city championship’s a big deal.”

And you know the Pirates will be ready.

—Courtesy 619Sports.net

LA MESA–Realigned, renamed and redesigned this year, the Grossmont Hills league is one of the toughest in the CIF-San Diego Section. For the front-runners Helix and Steele Canyon, the path to the league title just got a little bit tougher.

Behind a rugged defense which sacked quarterback Frank Foster nine times, the Grossmont Foothillers gutted out a 13-7 win over the rival Valhalla Norsemen from El Cajon in the 619 Preps Game of the Week, getting a leg up as the brutal league schedule begins.

“We’ve got the only league in San Diego county with three Top-25 teams,” said head coach Ron Murphy of the ‘Hillers, “We’re chasing Helix and Steele Canyon. Tonight we were chasing Valhalla and we caught them.”

Postgame video interviews: Grossmont senior LB Michael Davis-Tucker and head coach Ron Murphy:

In a contest featuring contrasting styles, Grossmont (6-0, 1-0) won with a patient zone-read ground game and a defense which repeatedly disrupted Valhalla’s precision passing attack. While Foster finished 15-for-24 for 187 yards and a touchdown, he was constantly under pressure and took six of his nine sacks in the second half.

“Our defensive coordinator Brad Burton believes in bringing the pressure, “said Murphy, “we felt our best approach was not to sit back, but to try and attack them.”

Offensively, the Hillers were carried as usual by East County rushing leader Desean Waters. The senior running back-turned-QB delivered his most balanced performance of the season, rushing 27 times for 125 yards and a touchdown, while completing 7-of-13 passes for 125 yards.

Waters closed out the game with five straight carries for 46 yards, freezing out the Valhalla offense for the final 2:48 of the game.

“The orders were: only Desean touches the ball at the end of the game,” said Murphy, “Desean does not turn the ball over, he carries our offense, and leads us to victory.”

Both defenses could point to goal line stands which helped define the slugfest under misty skies on the Grossmont High campus. The Hillers were turned aside on their first drive after a ten play march, with Waters stuffed on fourth and goal from the 3 yard line.

After a scoreless first quarter, Valhalla (3-3, 0-1) finally punctured the scoreboard with 4:20 left in the opening half, as Foster’s rainbow pass into double coverage was hauled down by star junior receiver Devon Haston (7 receptions, 118 yards) in the end zone for a 30 yard touchdown.

The Hillers found their rhythm on an 11-play drive to close out the half, with the big play a Waters pass to junior wideout Lawson Medeiros (3 receptions, 82 yards). Standout kicker Jordan Reece booted a 32 yard field goal to end the drive and send Grossmont into halftime trailing 7-3.

Michael Davis-Tucker’s sack in the opening drive of the third quarter set the tone for a second half in which Foster was constantly under duress. The Hillers blitzed early and often, sending multiple linebackers and sometimes a safety or cornerback to take advantage of Valhalla’s five and seven-step QB drops.

“We’ve been putting in extra time at practice and just did our thing,” said the senior linebacker.

Facing a fourth-and-ten from the Grossmont 44 yard line early in the third quarter, Norsemen head coach Steve Sutton gambled on a fake punt only to see Brandon Steed’s pass knocked down incomplete. The Hillers answered with Reece’s second field goal of the game, this one from 43 yards away to make it a 7-6 game.

Special teams then helped turn the game in Grossmont’s favor. On Valhalla’s next possession, a third-down sack by Michael’s brother Ryan Davis-Tucker forced the Norsemen to punt from their own 22. Steed’s punt was shanked and only traveled 24 yards, giving the Hillers a short field to work with.

Waters capitalized with the help of senior tailback Tony Abuka, who took advantage of the Valhalla defense overplaying Waters, taking a pitch to the left for a 22-yard gain which set up the Hillers on the 2-yard line. Waters took it in from there with 3:35 left in the third quarter to post the final score of 13-7.

The Hillers would be tested one more time defensively before taking control. The third quarter ended with Foster hooking up with Haston again, this time on a 48 yard gainer all the way to the Grossmont seven yard line.

Valhalla got down to the one-yard line on fourth down and elected to go for it. The Norsemen tried an option run to the left, but sophomore reserve tailback Martin Mokou was stuffed for a three yard loss to cap the goal line stand.

From there, the Norsemen were playing the rest of the game “behind the sticks”, as the Hillers sacked Foster on three of his final eight pass attempts and forced an intentional grounding penalty on another.

While Valhalla’s playoff hopes are still very much alive at 3-3, their league dreams appear to be dashed against the rocks, particularly with Helix and Steele Canyon yet to come on the schedule. Both East County powers are waiting for the Hillers as well, but with six straight wins under their belt, Grossmont might be up for the challenge.

A homecoming classic ended with a last-minute hookup, a field goal just feet short of its tying target, and a Titans crowd waiting to finally exhale.

Eastlake backup quarterback Josh Palet’s 22 yard touchdown pass to Jordan Hines with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter gave the 3rd ranked Titans just enough to edge a gritty Steele Canyon team 20-17 at Stan Canaris Stadium in our 619 Preps Game of the Week.

Postgame video interviews: Josh Palet and Jordan Hines

The 5th ranked Cougars (3-1) took the lead in a wild first quarter and protected it through a hard-hitting second half, only to see the Titans (4-0) steal the game on a desperate final drive. Even then Steele Canyon fought back, but a last-gasp 48 yard field goal was online but short as time expired.

Taking over at their 28 with 1:19 remaining and no timeouts, Eastlake found itself quickly in desperate straits. Palet, who entered the game with just under 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter in relief of the starter Hines, fired three incomplete passes.

On fourth and 10, Palet hung in the pocket and found senior tailback Chris Fletcher open in the right flat. Fletcher cut upfield and scampered 53 yards to the Steele Canyon 19.

“I read the defense before the play, Chris found an opening, and I threw it to his hands, simple as that,” said Palet.

Two plays later, Palet’s fade into the left corner of the end zone was brought down by Hines in double coverage for the game-winning 22 yard reception.

“It’s the moment I live for,” said Hines, “Josh put it up there and put the game in my hands, and I had to come through and do it for my team.”

Prior to the late home team heroics, Steele Canyon was controlling the ball and the line of scrimmage, on the way to a first win ever against the South Bay’s top team. Indeed, this game was tantalizingly close to being in the Cougars’ back pocket, as they were twice one play away from sealing the victory.

“The guys played hard, and that’s what we ask of them,” said head coach Ron Boehmke.

Behind the hard and shifty running of senior running back Jake Wragg (23 carries, 163 yards, TD), the Cougars milked the clock and kept Eastlake’s offense on the sideline.

After a wild first quarter which saw both teams break huge runs and score two touchdowns, Steele Canyon started the second quarter with a 17 play, 66 yard march. While the drive only netted a field goal and a 17-13 lead, the Cougars had set the tone for (most of) the remainder of the game.

Junior tailback Josh Isbell ran for 166 of his 185 yards in the first half for Eastlake, and left the game after taking a punishing hit from Steele Canyon junior linebacker Jake Ruysschaert over the middle on his 17th and final carry of the game.

“Steele Canyon adjusted really well to what we do,” said Hines, “They pretty much knew our offense, you’ve got to give them a lot of props.”

The Titans were held to 41 second half rushing yards after gaining 180 before halftime, but necessity forced them to take to the air. After Isbell was knocked out of the game, Palet entered and hooked up with Hines on a 29-yard catch to put Eastlake in scoring position.

The drive made it all the way to the Cougars’ 5, but on fourth and inches Fletcher was absolutely crushed by Steele Canyon junior defensive back Chanceller James and stopped cold at the line of scrimmage for a goal line stand and a turnover on downs.

Needing to run off the final 5:36, the Cougars picked up two rushing first downs. On the second, a quarterback line buck up the middle for 15 yards by Brad Boehmke, with his offensive line pushing Eastlake down the field, the game seemed all but over.

Out of time outs, the Titans had one more set of downs to defend, and they held Wragg to six yards on three straight carries. After a delay of game and a punt, Palet and Hines were set up for their Marino-to-Duper act.

The rest was homecoming history.

As if to make the night even better, the junior Hines was named his school’s homecoming king and Big Man On Campus. This was at halftime, as part of an extravaganza that included a fireworks show. They may want to come up with some new awards for the postgame.

“This is just about the best day ever,” said a beaming Hines.

The Cougars, meanwhile, can leave South Bay knowing they are still a power to be reckoned with in the East County this year.

“We would love to have beaten those guys and gotten to 4-0,” said Coach Boehmke, ”but if anything it shows we deserve to be where we are in the county rankings and what it takes to play a county champion.”

On Wednesday, Canyon Crest Academy senior Matt Malott entered elite company, when he pitched a perfect game against Bloomfield, Colorado, in the La Jolla Country Day tournament at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, CA. Matt struck out ten batters in his dominant seven inning performance with a variety of pitches including a four-seam fastball, curve, change-up, and two-seam fastball.

A recent SportsForce combine participant, Matt was an event standout with superior control and command for prep level athlete. Canyon Crest Academy head coach Ryan Sienko emphasized Matt’s abilities when questioned after the game by the North County Times saying that Matt, “…mixed his pitches really well. He is a hard working kid that pounds the strike zone.” Matt’s performance was truly spectacular and we at SportsForce want to congratulate the SportsForce alum on his great achievement and what will likely be an impressive and successful season.

See Matt’s full SportsForce profile at: http://www.sportsforceonline.com/athletes/mmalott

Highlight Video and Scouting report courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com

Brandon Johnson came back from a major achilles injury to play a 5th year with the Toreros. In the process he has become USD’s all-time leading scorer, but a 9-18 season has put a sour edge to what should be a season of celebration. Brandon joined 619 Sports after USD practice at Jenny Craig Pavilion to reflect on his career and the challenges he has faced:

–Story and video courtesy 619Sports.net

The Gonzalez Sports Academy is celebrating its Grand Opening Wednesday, January 27^th. The facility which is owned and operated by the Gonzalez family and world class athletic trainer, Bob Foley boasts state of the art equipment and training tools for athletes of all sports and levels.

The Gonzalez Sports Academy (GSA) offers:

29,000 square foot indoor facility
Speed & Agility Area
Two (2) 180 ft long running track
Weight Training Area
Four (4) Batting Cages
Strength & Conditioning
Two (2) Pitching Mounds
Juice Bar
Three (3) Professional size Volley Ball Courts
Gift Shop
Five (5) acres of outdoor training space

The Grand Opening promised a chance to explore the facility and try out the training areas as well as a meet and greet with some pro-athletes including Adrian and Edgar Gonzalez, Tony Gwynn, Jr., Dave Roberts, Paul Molitor, Zeke Moreno and Nick Hundley. For more information on the GSA visit: http://gonzalezsportsacademy.com/