SAN DIEGO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Roundup : Lincoln Struggles Past Point Loma

After outscoring opponents in San Francisco and Seattle, 108-0, in its first two games, Lincoln High School appeared to be suffering from jet lag in its home county debut Friday afternoon. Plagued by fumbles and interceptions, the Hornets struggled Friday to a 12-7 win at Point Loma.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be this close,” Lincoln Coach Vic Player said. “I’m not accustomed to the kids making mental mistakes. I think we’ve got to learn to play at the level of competition we have here in San Diego County.”

Lincoln (3-0) discovered on its opening play from scrimmage that this game was going to be tougher. Running back Marcus Hopkins fumbled, giving Point Loma (2-1) the ball on the Lincoln 17. However, the Lincoln defense held Point Loma at the one-yard line.

“I think one big thing was that we didn’t put the ball across after that first fumble,” said Point Loma Coach Bennie Edens, who wasn’t surprised with the closeness of the game. “We didn’t think (Lincoln) had had an opportunity to play a good football team.”

The most striking difference between these teams was passing. Rushing was reasonably close--Point Loma’s 172 to Lincoln’s 145--but Lincoln’s Keith Mitchell passed for 188 yards and both of Point Loma quarterback Ace Logan’s passes were intercepted.

Indeed, the first of Lincoln’s interceptions set up the game’s first touchdown late in the first quarter. Patrick Rowe made the interception and lateraled to Mitchell for a return of 68 yards to the Point Loma 22. Back on offense, Mitchell--10 for 14--passed to Rowe for the touchdown.

Running back Kevin Key scored Lincoln’s other touchdown on a fumble recovery near the end of the first half.

Point Loma’s only touchdown came in the third period on a four-yard run by John Stanley, the game’s leading rusher with 157 yards gained in 21 carries.

In other games:

Chula Vista 27, Patrick Henry 11--Sione Fehoko scored three touchdowns and ran for 214 yards in 31 carries to lead Chula Vista (3-0) over Henry (0-3). Quarterback Brian Murphy, who completed 13 of 17 passes, hit receiver Sultan Mohammed for Chula Vista’s other touchdown. Patrick Henry scored on Andy Trakas’ 29-yard field goal and Collis Hunt’s 9-yard touchdown run.

Orange Glen 35, San Pasqual 14--Quarterback Duffy Daugherty threw for 286 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 6 Orange Glen at San Pasqual (2-1). Wide receiver Matt Fiorello caught three scoring passes from Daugherty and split end Scott Carlovsky caught one as Orange Glen improved its record to 3-0.

Poway 20, San Marcos 6--Doug Eagle scored on a 15-yard pass from Ty Nichols and Paul Escola ran 15 yards for another score as No. 7 Poway (3-0) won at San Marcos (0-2-1). Eagle’s touchdown in the first quarter and Escola’s in the second quarter preceded field goals of 42 and 20 yards by John Ashworth. San Marcos scored late in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard pass from Rick Ebert to Travis Beasley.

Crawford 7, Kearny 0--Linebacker Dean Wolfe intercepted a pass and ran 47 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter as Crawford (2-1) beat Kearny (1-2) at Mesa College. Twice, in the fourth quarter, Kearny drove deep into Crawford territory only to be halted by fumble recoveries by Jaime Williams and Robert Howard.

Mar Vista 25, Bonita Vista 0--Spencer Bernatt threw a pair of third quarter touchdown passes and the Mar Vista defense forced five turnovers against visiting Bonita Vista (0-3). Bernatt threw scoring passes of 25 yards to Rafael Santiago and 21 yards to Tim Nicholas. Mar Vista (1-2) had opened a 12-0 halftime lead on a nine-yard scoring pass from Todd Habel to Scott Brooks and five-yard touchdown run by Gonzalo Quintero.

Madison 7, Mount Miguel 0--Jimmy Robinson, who led all rushers with 74 yards in 14 carries, scored the game’s only touchdown as neither Madison (2-1) or Mount Miguel (1-2) had more than 100 yards rushing or passing. Madison defender Marvin Prather had two of his team’s five interceptions.

Hilltop 21, Clairemont 15--Robbie DePerro threw three touchdown passes to lead Hilltop at Clairemont. DePerro connected twice with Ron White from 5 yards out and once with Henry Negrete from 20 as Hilltop (2-1) took a 21-0 lead into the fourth quarter. Clairemont (0-3) countered with two fourth quarter scores on runs by Cercy Moore from 6 yards and Chris Box from 10.

Mira Mesa 15, Mt. Carmel 7--Essex Burton ran 25 yards for a touchdown and Eddie Allison hit Ray Rowe with a 37-yard touchdown pass to lead Mira Mesa (1-2). Jim Tejcek threw Richard Madrid a 32-yard scoring pass for Mt. Carmel (1-2). Richard Baird had a 26-yard field goal for Mira Mesa.

University of San Diego High 13, Southwest 12--Martin Correia scored on a 45-yard run with 2:32 left in the game to lead University (3-0) to a come-from-behind victory over Southwest (1-2). Trailing 10-0 in the fourth period, University scored its first touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Anthony Massa to Pete Hawes. A 45-yard field goal by Paul Tavares and a 70-yard touchdown pass from Richard Delano to Mario Zaravia had given Southwest the lead. University ran the ball out of the end zone late in the game to give Southwest a safety.

Oceanside 20, San Gorgonio 14--Sal Fuimaono intercepted a Gary Taylor pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 45 yards for the winning touchdown at Riverside. Oceanside quarterback Rocky Aukoso passed for 126 yards, including a 5-yard scoring pass to Junior Seau. San Gorgonio had only 19 yards rushing.

Briefly--University City 35, Serra 0; Fallbrook 20, El Camino 16; Sweetwater 55, CETYS 0; Granite Hills 35, Grossmont 5; Valhalla 7, Helix 6; San Dieguito 40, Mission Bay 8; Monte Vista 35, El Capitan 21; Coronado 35, El Cajon 7; Carlsbad 23, San Diego 15; Hoover 29, Santana 12; Montgomery 25, Castle Park 14; Torrey Pines 23, San Marino 0.