Vikings Victorious at Homecoming: La Jolla football defeats Morse High School, 35-12

The La Jolla High School Homecoming game halftime festivities honored past, present and future Vikings, and those in attendance Friday night, Oct. 11 had a lot to celebrate — their beloved football team was on route to a 35-12 victory against Morse High School.

The game started slowly on La Jolla’s home field with the Morse Tigers taking their time with first possession, making their way up the field toward the end-zone, not scoring for almost 10 minutes. When they did, they missed the extra point kick to get on the board 6-0. With little time left in the first quarter, the Vikings were unable to score.

But starting in the second quarter, continued back-and-forth possessions and dramatic throws from quarterback Jackson Stratton meant an action-packed rest of the game. To score their two touchdowns of the second quarter, the Vikings relied on long plays to get close to the end-zone, and a strong running game to clear it.

And the action continued into the third quarter, with the Vikings scoring a few short minutes into the third quarter to bring the score to 21-6. And then again in the third … and again in the fourth.

With one Tiger touchdown in between, the game ended 35-12.

“It was fun and an exciting night,” said Viking coach Tyler Roach. “Our defense has been a strength all season long, we relied on them. But on offense, Jackson (Stratton) was locked in. We developed a good game plan based on what Morse was doing and honed in on that. He was confident and was able to execute.”

Having a crowd in the stands didn’t hurt either. “We had a big turnout at Homecoming and the players really fed off that. We hope we can have a few more big games with people there supporting us,” he added. “We’re sitting in a good place, but we have some big games coming up ... those will be a big test.”