Scott Has a Royal Night as Kearny, La Jolla Tie, 7-7

He’s known as the Fresh Prince of receiving, but on this night, he was also the King of the Court.

Although Friday night’s Western League showdown between Kearny and La Jolla at Mesa College will be etched in the record books as a 7-7 tie, Darnay Scott’s performance left its own mark.

Scott, considered one of the top college prospects in the county, was crowned Homecoming King at halftime, but his crowning glory came after Friday night’s game. Scott not only caught the touchdown pass that put No. 8 Kearny (5-1-1, 0-0-1) ahead in the four-down overtime system, he also scored on the two-point conversion attempt that put the Komets ahead, 8-0, before turning the ball over to La Jolla.

Nick Alford, the La Jolla running back put to work when teammate E.J. Watson was hurt midway through the first quarter with an injured left ankle, swept right end to pull the Vikings to 8-6. But on the conversion try, Alford ran left, and into a waiting Scott, who stopped him cold a yard shy of the goal line.

“Darnay was out in the corner,” Alford said. “And he grabbed my shirt and stopped me. I almost broke free . . . “

Said Scott, who suffered a bruised right hamstring in the first quarter, but came back into the game: “I knew I had to stop him. I didn’t know how, but I knew I had to stop him”

As it was, Alford got an A for his effort Friday night. A fine running back in his own right, Alford, who rushed 24 times for 120 yards and scored the fourth-quarter touchdown that gave La Jolla (5-1-1, 1-0-1) the tie, has been overshadowed by Watson. Watson, a junior running back, was the leading scorer in the county entering Friday night’s game.

“E.J.’s an important part of this team,” Alford said, “but we have depth. After he went down, coach (Dick Huddleston) told everyone we’d have to stay together. They kept saying stop E.J. and you stop La Jolla, but this proved that we’re not one-dimensional.”

Scott said Watson’s presence wouldn’t have made a sufficient difference.

“There was lots of talk all week about this,” said Scott, who is a neighbor and friend of Watson’s. “But after he went down we knew we had to go just as hard to stop them.”

In the second quarter on Kearny’s second possession, James Curtis and Chris Richmond rushed for gains of nine, 23, 19 and four yards to set up Ted Mack’s 20-yard touchdown run with 9:29 remaining. Chris Floyd’s extra point made it 7-0.

Kearny and La Jolla exchanged second-quarter interceptions, but the Vikings were hurt more, as quarterback Brian Hidalgo was intercepted by Scott on first and 20 at Kearny’s four-yard line.

Eric Zadeyan kept La Jolla off the scoreboard by missing field-goal attempts of 25 and 42 yards in the third, but the Vikings rumbled back with 9:07 left in the fourth when Alford scored on a seven-yard run.