A regular-season win streak for the Point Loma varsity football team that began Aug. 22, 2025, ended on Sept. 18 when the Del Norte Nighthawks swooped into Pete Ross Stadium and flew away with a 37-23 victory in their claws for the school’s 99th annual homecoming celebration.
The last regular-season loss? A 55-6 blowout by Cathedral Catholic Nov. 1, 2024.
The loss to Del Norte only made the Pointers hungrier, following it with a 17-12 road win on Sept. 26 at Ramona.
Against Ramona, the Pointers had difficulty keeping the pesky Bulldogs at bay, and coaches were frustrated when defensive pass coverage faltered.
Scoring began on the Pointers’ opening drive when Tanner Spradling hauled in a 35-yard scoring pass from Ryder Watson for a 7-0 lead with less than three minutes expired. In all, Spradling caught seven balls for 137 yards.
The Bulldogs countered with a 39-yard scoring run early in the second quarter and, after a failed extra point, were within one at 7-6.
The Pointers scored again when junior Collin Scott made a nice catch of a Watson throw, getting both feet down as he ran to the left end zone sideline just 2:49 before halftime.
The Bulldogs took the second-half kickoff and drove to the Pointer nine-yard line before Lucas Zucker forced a fumble, which MJ Fowler recovered.
The Pointer offense sputtered for much of the second half, but when it stalled in the fourth quarter at the Ramona 28-yard line, Cleator came on to hit a 45-yard field goal that was to prove critical since the 17-6 lead prevented the Bulldogs from tying the game with a touchdown and two-point attempt.
And, with Pointer defenders having trouble covering Ramona receivers, a 15-yard pass gave the Bulldogs their second score with 2:01 left to play. The Bulldogs missed a two-point conversion and failed to recover the ensuing onside kick attempt before time expired.
For the game, Cleator also booted two point-after attempts, caught four passes on offense plus intercepted a pass on defense, and had each of his four kickoffs sail into the end zone for touchbacks.
Defensively, Chase Thomas, Nick Lemus and Fowler each recorded double-digit tackles, and Fowler recovered a fumble. Cleator averaged 49.5 yards on four punts.
“We’ll use the bye week to make adjustments we think will help us,” Pointer head coach Ryan Price said. “Every school will have five or six weeks of film on us so we’ll try and throw in some wrinkles. Our team has quite a few guys with no varsity experience so we expect to improve as they gain experience each week. We’ll use the bye week to give them a little break physically but push them mentally.”
Next up for the Pointers is a home game Oct. 9 vs. Scripps Ranch in a final non-league game against the 0-5 Falcons. Then, on Oct. 16, the Pointers travel to face Western League opponent Lincoln who is far stronger than their current 1-5 record shows because of their strength of schedule.
Other Pointer Football News
The Pointer JV is 5-1 after a 20-7 loss to Del Norte and 42-7 win over Ramona. The Novice team remains undefeated with a 27-6 win over Del Norte and a 47-6 whipping of Ramona.
After being ranked in the section’s Top Ten earlier, MaxPreps now lists the Pointers at 14th. Following Scripps Ranch, the Pointers play their final regular-season home game on Oct. 30, a league contest against Mission Bay. The Buccaneers are is currently 3-2 and were moved up two leagues from last year’s City League to the current West
