A 48-21 victory last Friday night over previously unbeaten Tri-City Christian allowed the La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School football team to take over sole possession of first place in the Pacific League. LJCD (7-1, 5-0) had to fight through some challenges, as QB Derek Hatfield dislocated his right (throwing) shoulder on the second offensive play. Hatfield stayed on the field long enough to complete four more plays, with running back Montell Allen tying the game at 7-7 on a 13-yard touchdown run. Freshman Sage Burmeister stepped into Hatfield’s safety spot, while junior reserve QB Ruben Peña took over the reins of the offense to lead the way. Allen, meantime, rushed 17 times for 185 yards and four touchdowns, while Frankie Brown added an 11-yard TD run. On defense, Allen tallied 10 stops to help keep Tri-City’s offense in check. Junior linebacker Mical Bailey had an aggressive 11 tackles (four solos), senior defensive tackle Blake Mohseni made eight tackles, sophomore defender Chris Campbell recorded six stops and senior linebacker Conner Gerhart added five tackles. Burmeister and junior corner back Austin Rooke each added an interception on defense. LJCD head coach Jeff Hutzler noted the efforts of a number of other players, including offensive linemen Steve Dennis, Indie Lavarias, Ian Han, Mohseni and Nick Sabourin. Junior kicker Hunter Khaleghi connected on 6-of-7 PATs and, as he has done all season, senior Alberto Yanez was strong on kick off coverage, making four tackles. In the junior varsity game, LJCD stayed unbeaten at 6-0 with a 42-7 win. LJCD travels to Vincent Memorial for a 7 p.m. Friday contest. Elsewhere, La Jolla High ran into a tough Mission Bay squad, dropping a 54-14 decision last Friday. Mission Bay was able to gain 465 total yards, as QB Dillon Baxter played a major role on both the ground and in the air. “We did manage to sustain two good drives on offense that resulted in our two scores,” La Jolla High head coach Rey Hernandez noted. La Jolla travels to University City High this Friday for an important league game. “Our hopes of making the Division IV playoffs hinge on playing a good game against them,” Hernandez added.