Vikings out to conquer Explosive Samohi looks to shore things up against Palisades
By GERRY SHIH Special to the Daily Press
As expected, Santa Monica High football delivered its first win of the season last Friday, thumping Hueneme High in its season opener, 41-21.
Senior quarterback Ryan Katz torched the visitors’ secondary for 255 yards and a pair of touchdowns, completing 11 of 23 passes on a night Samohi played well, but far from perfect.
They may need to tighten things up tonight when they welcome Palisades Charter High to town.
A series of offsides and excessive celebration penalties, compounded by two fumbles deep in their own territory leading to Hueneme touchdowns, has left head coach Zach Cuda pondering about how to tighten his team’s mental focus. The win over a less athletic Hueneme team was fully expected, and Katz’s efficiency was mediocre by his own standards.
Still, there was something about the Vikings’ verve and vitality that suggested this year’s aerial offense could pose a frightening riddle for its upcoming foes.
With Katz’s deep passing now an improved and legitimate threat, senior receiver Jon Dunn thrived, hauling in two touchdowns and racking up 122 yards on the night. The sprightly Katz operated heavily out of the shotgun formation and looked confident distributing the football to other wideouts such as Isai Carillo, who had three receptions for 47 yards.
“It was a good chance to work on our spread offense,” said an understated Cuda, who insists that he is still a run-first, old school I-back football coach. “But you have got to be able to run in high school football and control the clock.”
Looking forward to tonight’s matchup showdown with Palisades, Cuda will again push junior tailback Vince Lawrence to attack the middle and compress the defense.
“The idea is that I just do my job when I’m called upon and go up the middle,” Lawrence said. “That opens up the defense for Ryan [Katz] and the receivers.”
The opposite is also true, as Lawrence’s solid performance last week — 13 carries, 62 yards, and three touchdowns — presented one-on-one matchups for Samohi’s quickly improving receiving corps.
“I was able to spread the ball around,” Katz said. “It’s not just Jon Dunn. He had his big night last week, but I’m definitely confident in all my receivers — Taylor Wright, Luke Zelon, Isai Carillo — I have faith in all these guys.”
Cuda anticipates Palisades will rely heavily on their own three hot receivers tonight, but the Vikes’ defense has plenty of feel-good momentum to carry into tonight.
Junior safety Christian Ross made three interceptions, and other players on the Vikings’ secondary — described by the ever-demanding Cuda as “needing some work” — chipped in two more picks to brand the Hueneme quarterback with one forgettable night at Corsair Field. Cuda added that senior linebacker Max Monbouquette was “stellar, as expected.”
With nerves now settled, Lawrence felt that the Vikings’ camp is high on morale.
“We’re definitely way hyped and high on intensity,” he said. “We’re going to let everybody know that Samo ain’t playing around this year.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 14, 2007. Read the original PDF.