Point Loma High football to play for undefeated regular season Friday

SAN DIEGO – Point Loma High School‘s football team will be playing to make dreams come true at home on Oct. 31 against Eastern League foe St. Augustine.

One of those dreams is to finish the regular season undefeated as the Pointers enter the game with a 9-0 record and first place in the league at 4-0.

The St. Augustine Saints are in second place at 4-5 and 3-1. But Point Loma scored 101 more points and gave up 109 fewer than the private school.

The Pointers last finished the regular season undefeated in 2005 under longtime coach Mike Hastings. That team went on to the California Interscholastic Federation championship, where it lost, coincidentally to the Saints and finished 12-1.

Another dream is to receive a high seed in CIF Division I playoffs when pairings are announced on Nov. 1. Highest seeds receive a coveted first-round bye and home games against every lower-seeded team.

These dreams, if realized, would lead to a third dream – the team’s first CIF championship since Bennie Edens guided his 1991 team to the title.

“It’s going to be tough,” Pointer head coach Ryan Price said. “Saints is going to come in motivated and give us all they’ve got and our kids will have to bring their best.”

These dreams could depend on the Pointers starting strong against the Saints after its offense sputtered in the first half of the past two road games, wins at Madison (55-26) and Christian (24-0).

Both players and coaches were frustrated when Madison took a 10-0 lead on Oct. 17 before the offense exploded with eight touchdown passes, 478 yards to go with 50 yards rushing, for 528 total yards on 42 plays – an average of 12.6 yards per play.

Both Point Loma quarterbacks ended up with big numbers against the Warhawks. Ryder Watson threw for 343 yards and five touchdowns over three quarters before Henry Heuser came on to throw for 135 yards and three scores in the final frame.

Romeo Carter was the recipient of six of those touchdown passes, one short of the CIF record. They covered  214 yards with a longest of 66 yards, teammate Wade Mettler caught four passes for 122 yards and a touchdown, while Tanner Spradling grabbed six for 100 yards. Defender Ryan Cleator, given a shot at receiver, grabbed a late 24-yard scoring pass.

Defensively, tackling machine Mateo Correia again reached double digits with 10 solo tackles and three assists, including four tackles for loss and two pass interceptions. Other tacklers were Leo Sahd and Ace Selchow (six solos each), Owen Ice, Carter, Cleator and Kobe Kelly (four solos each).

Last Friday against Christian High, played at Granite Hills High, the Pointers never trailed, but it took a while for their offensive engine to warm up.

The Patriots, while undersized, put up a good fight, limiting Point Loma to 289 total yards of offense, all but nine of those coming through the air.

On their first possession of the game, Watson hit Carter with a scoring pass for a 7-0 Pointer lead. Carter now has 901 receiving yards including 16 touchdown passes. 

During the second quarter, Heuser entered the game and, after a near interception, connected with Spradling on a 40-yard strike for the second Pointer score with just over three minutes before halftime. Then, getting the ball back quickly, the Pointers moved to the 19-yard line where Cleator drilled a 36-yard field goal three seconds before time expired, raising the score to 17-0.

A fourth quarter punt return by Carter preceded a Heuser-Carter pass for 30 yards before a scoring pass to Grant Murdock that ended scoring at 24-0.

A defensive highlight for the Pointers came in the third quarter when the Patriots covered a Point Loma fumble at the Pointer 20. But the defense stopped the hosts and a field goal attempt was blocked by Pointer Carson Allen.

Carter again led all receivers with nine catches for 120 yards. Spradling (four for 61 yards), Sahd (three for 43), Murdock (three for 38) and Ryan Patterson (two for 18) followed.

Defensively, Ace Selchow (seven solos tackles, two assists) led the charge followed by Braeden Bartocci (six, one), Kelly (five, two), Braden Lane (five, one) and Correia (four, two). 

Two tackles for loss each were made by Bartocci, Correia, and Kelly, with Selchow adding one. Sacks went to Bartocci, his 11th, and Correia while Owen Ice had an interception giving him seven for the season.

Price focused his praise on the defense.

“I’m proud of our defense,” he said as his players prepared for the bus ride home. “A win is a win, 9-0 is 9-0. We tend to start slow sometimes on one side of the ball but we make plays when we need to and win as a team. I’m happy about that. I’m proud of the team and ultimately we have a big game at home next week to finish it up (going into playoffs).”

EXTRA POINTS

The Pointer JV team is 7-3 (3-0 in league) after a 42-10 win over Christian. The freshman team is 7-2 (2-0) following a forfeit by Mater Day Catholic who was to replace Christian on their schedule. 

In their past two games, the Pointers have thrown the ball on just under 75% of plays and run it on just over 24%. Watson and Heuser are just one yard apart for the season with 1,050 and 1,049 yards respectively.

An unsportsmanlike action by Cathedral Catholic players on the last play of their Oct. 10 game at Point Loma is under review by the CIF San Diego Section.