Christian’s Jack St. Fleur, believed to have been lost for the season due to a broken ankle just three weeks ago, made a surprising return to the lineup.
Talk about tough. He looked to be certainly at near-full speed playing on both sides of the ball.
St. Fleur scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run with 7:59 left in the first half that brought Christian back to within a touchdown.
It was St. Fleur and the Patriot bench that appeared to engage and enrage Stratton, causing the quarterback to receive his ejection prior to the Pats’ score. Stratton had already received a personal foul earlier in the quarter.
Northern Colorado-bound kicker Davin Bale knocked in three field goals, including one in the second quarter as La Jolla led just 17-7 at halftime. He had successful boots of 36 and 38 yards in the third quarter.
La Jolla’s underrated defense stymied the Pats’ offense in the third quarter.
Max Raulston caught a 48-yard touchdown pass just a little more than five minutes into the second half to extend the lead to 27-7.
Star Max Smith capped the scoring with a 2-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
But it’s not all about offense with the top team in the Eastern League – despite a 50-point-per-game average – but the Viking defense is quite the gem, as well.
Christian High passed for 120 yards but had just 38 yards on the ground on 25 carries.
Even with a huge lead, La Jolla coaches were obviously upset with the officiating, even late in the contest.
The Vikings improved to 4-0 and are nearing the top five in the local poll in this historical run.
Christian (2-2) is scheduled to travel to face Mission Bay (1-2) next Friday.
