Pointer football seeks consistency after 2-0 start

CHULA VISTA Perhaps playing on the familiar home turf of Pete Ross Stadium on Sept will be a key factor in Point Loma High getting back to the offensive performance they displayed in a season-opening - win over Del Norte By contrast the Pointers struggled to put points on the board last week as they squeaked by a stubborn Otay Ranch company in a - mastery that left them undefeated - Tuesday s match pits them against an opponent that replaced them when they were dropped from the Western League to the Eastern League this season Scripps Ranch s Falcons fly in to challenge the Dogs carrying a - record after a - loss to Poway which scrimmaged the Pointers last month and a - win over Warren High of Downey Against Del Norte the Pointers punished the Nighthawks with yards in offense passing rushing led by Romeo Carter s seven catches for yards and three touchdowns Both quarterbacks Ryder Watson yards and Henry Heuser yards had good games completing of their passes Braden Lane carried times for yards and three touchdowns Defensively Braeden Bartocci had two sacks five tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries Owen Ice and Ace Selchow each had six tackles Chase Thomas had an interception he returned for yards But after a bus ride to Chula Vista where the encounter temperature at Otay Ranch was a humid upper- s the Pointers never seemed to put together consistent offensive drives Granted the Mustangs came into the championship fresh from an opening - trouncing of Rancho Buena Vista in their first battle under veteran head coach Howard Bannister who moved over from Chula Vista High This time Heuser played all but the first series of downs completing half his passes of for yards His longest was caught by Leo Sahd for yards Carter was held to three catches for yards total On the ground Lane carried times for yards while Heuser ran times for yards scoring both touchdowns the first with just seconds left in the first half His second came with to play in the third quarter After the first outcome the Pointers were penalized yards before the PAT kick making the distance yards but Ryan Cleator s boot was good from that distance Defensively the Pointers played well Otay Ranch s touchdown not coming until the final seconds of the challenge The Mustangs had only eight total yards passing completing just two of ten throws Running backs were held to yards for a total offense of yards In postgame remarks to his club head coach Ryan Price focused his concern on the effort he saw during the week of practice leading up to the Otay Ranch tournament I saw warning signs of a sub-par performance all week Price announced We had kids out with strep throat kids out with the flu we were missing guys in practice just a lot of bad things happened this week I know coach Bannister and I knew they were going to be a well-coached crew and bring their best I warned our guys all week that if we didn t bring our best this was the kind of challenge it was going to be Luckily the Pointers had just enough offense to win Thankfully our guys kept fighting and a win is a win Price noted Otay Ranch is a band with heart they are respectful and they play the championship right Anybody can win on Friday night if they bring their best We didn t bring our best but we still got the win The Pointers were flagged with several penalties on the final Mustang drive that resulted in their lone touchdown We have to learn how to close out games Price announced Those are discipline things and we will absolutely correct them Extra points The Pointer freshman unit is - following a - loss to Del Norte and a - win over Otay Ranch The junior varsity is also - losing - to Del Norte and beating Otay Ranch - Following this week s games the Pointers take their annual bye week break before returning to host Eastlake Sept The Sept match will be this year s homecoming encounter with patrons from the school s th anniversary gala event on Sept encouraged to attend Tickets for all games should be purchased ahead of time on gofan co Parents are required not to drop off unsupervised elementary or middle school children at any home games These children should be accompanied by and sit with an adult