Point Loma senior displays sideline-to-sideline skills

Point Loma High’s JL Skinner is squirming. He’s seated in a chair inside the P.E. office, his 6-foot-3, 209-pound frame, twisting one direction, then the other. He brings his hand to his chin and tilts his head back, contemplating.

Skinner is uncomfortable because he’s been asked which side of the football he prefers, jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage as a lock-down cornerback or zipping through secondaries as a wide receiver.

“I don’t know which to choose,” says Skinner, a senior. “That is hard.”

Pointers coach Mike Hastings comes to Skinner’s rescue.

“When push comes to shove,” says Hastings, “he just likes to play football.”

Skinner’s array of talents — he plays corner and safety, plus lines up at quarterback in the wildcat formation — will be on display this evening when Point Loma hosts University City. It’s a fascinating matchup, with Skinner no doubt going one-on-one sometimes against another of the section’s top receivers, Casey Granfors.

The pair happen to be friends.

“I want to hold my own against great players,” says Skinner. “I respect his game, but at the end of the day it’s competition on the field.”

Point Loma does not keep individual statistics, but to appreciate Skinner’s talent all one must do is log onto maxpreps.com, navigate to Point Loma’s site, click on Skinner’s highlights, and you’ll understand why Cal, Arizona, Boise State, San Diego State and more than a dozen colleges have offered scholarships.

Three plays in particular stand out.

Against Ramona, Skinner catches a slant 10 yards down field and immediately slips a cornerback’s attempted tackle around the waist. A converging linebacker dives, gets his hands on the wide receiver, but Skinner sheds him and is gone on a 72-yard touchdown catch.

“He’s just so long, so powerful, you’ve got to bring everything with you to make that tackle,” says Ramona coach Damon Baldwin.

On another play against Ramona, Skinner demonstrates an innate competitiveness that cannot be coached. The Bulldogs complete a pass down field and the wide receiver appears headed for a touchdown.

Engaged with another pass catcher near the goal line, Skinner shoves away the blocker, tackles the wide receiver at the 2 and strips away the ball.

“It’s like coach always says, play to the whistle,” says Skinner. “I didn’t hear the whistle.”

On the third play, against Otay Ranch, Skinner lines up at quarterback in the wildcat. He fakes a handoff to the running back. Skinner takes a step left, plants hard and cuts right. There’s traffic at the line of scrimmage so Skinner cuts right again, gets to the outside, hits the sideline and he’s gone, off on a 69-yard TD run.

Explaining the play, Skinner smiles, then says, “It’s like youth football. Everyone thinks they’re a running back or quarterback.”

Baldwin could not have been more impressed with Skinner.

“In warm-ups, he looks like an NFL player,” says the Ramona coach. “His body is so mature. He’s a great player and he made great plays.”

Skinner says that earlier in his career at Point Loma he was approached by “outsiders” representing private schools St. Augustine and Cathedral Catholic. He passed on the overtures.

“This basically has been my home since I was a kid,” he says. “Since the fifth grade, I’ve been coming, watching games. This is where I feel most at home. I’m trying to build something before I leave, trying to make a difference.”

His impact is felt off the field as well.

Skinner participates in a school organization called The Care Crew where students collect food and basic supplies, then distribute them to the homeless.

“I’m living a great life,” says Skinner, who says “yes sir” and “no sir” during an interview as often as he shakes tackles. “I want to spread all the love and positivity to those less fortunate.”

Hanging inside the Point Loma coaches’ office is a poster of another Pointers wide receiver from nearly three decades ago, J.J. Stokes. Stokes played at UCLA, was picked 10th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft by the 49ers and went on to play nine years in the NFL.

Longtime Pointers assistant David Aros was on legendary coach Bennie Edens’ staff when Stokes played at Point Loma. Aros looks at the poster, looks at Skinner and sees similarities.

Stokes was listed at 6-4, 218 with the Niners. Skinner is 6-3, 209. Like Stokes, Skinner plays DB and wide receiver. Like Stokes, Skinner is how-did-he-do-that athletic.

“For being big kids, they have a smaller man’s quickness,” says Aros. “You see a 6-foot-3 kid change direction like someone 5-10, it catches your attention.”

Even their names are similar. J.J., with periods, JL, without. For Skinner, the initials are not abbreviations. They’re his given name. He’s JL Skinner III, carrying on his father and grandfather’s heritage.

His name, like the plays he pulls off on a football field, is distinct.

“I like that I’m different,” he says. “It’s easy to spot me out.”

Norcross is a freelance writer.