La Jolla High spring football game and alumni game help kick offseason training into gear

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Tommy Castronovo carries the ball during the La Jolla High School football team’s spring game June 3. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

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Matthieu Princeton (in black) tries to evade fellow Vikings. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

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Coach Tyler Roach gives a pep talk to the Vikings football team. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

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La Jolla High School alumni line up for a game of football June 3. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

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Makai Smith (class of 2022) celebrates a touchdown with fellow former Vikings during an alumni football game June 3. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

By Ashley Mackin-Solomon

June 7, 2022 10 AM PT

To kick off offseason training, the La Jolla High School Vikings football team held a spring game June 3.

Splitting the team in two, players continuing from last season played seven-on-seven on half the field for bragging rights and tri-tip for dinner (the losing team got hot dogs).

La Jolla High alumni cheered them on from the sidelines before playing their own football game after the current Vikings were done.

Lawrence Shimp, a 2020 graduate who went by “LT” when he was at La Jolla High, said he wanted to come back for the alumni game because “I love the family relationship we all have. This feels like coming back for a family cookout or something.”

He stopped playing football after an injury. But being back on his home turf, he said, “I love seeing my old boys and the younger kids having fun, too.”

Danny Molestina said he wanted to return because he got hurt during what would be his last game in 2021. “It took a lot out of me … that I didn’t get to see the season through. But seeing everyone again, seeing the community still together, is pretty nice,” he said.

The current players will focus in coming months on conditioning and strength training to prepare for the fall season, coach Tyler Roach said. ◆