Getting an early jump on the season, the La Jolla Country Day School football team scored a 26-18 win over Crawford last Saturday in the Kick Off Classic.
The win was La Jolla Country Day’s first against a large public school since 1994.
The CIF Kick Off Classic is an annual fund-raiser for the CIF San Diego Section designed to raise money to help with section teams’ travel costs during state playoffs. The event features a slate of showcase “games” played during the usual scrimmage weekend, one week before the actual start of the high school football season.
The “games” are technically scrimmages that do not count in the participating teams’ win-loss records but are played in a large school stadium under regular game conditions; refs, game uniforms, special teams, et cetera.
“Last night was also the debut of the Torreys’ brand-new spread offense and the boys in blue hung tough and made it go versus an opponent that did not lack for size nor speed,” LJCD head coach Jeff Hutzler noted.
Sophomore QB Derek Hatfield notched his first varsity win with a 13-for-21 attempts performance, no interceptions, 111 yards and one TD (13 yards to junior running back Mike Salas). Hatfield also chipped in with 12 yards rushing, including a 2-yard TD run.
Salas was a workhorse, grinding out 40 yards and a 2-yard TD run on 16 carries. Vastly improved senior receiver Tommy Morris carried the ball twice on end-around plays and gained 52 yards, including a 40-yard TD scamper. Morris also had two catches for 14 yards.
Senior receiver John Hansbrough led all Torrey receivers with 39 yards on five catches. Senior receiver Connor Grooms made two grabs for 35 yards.
The LJCD defense hung tough all night despite the tremendous line size and overall team speed of Crawford.
Sophomore linebacker Cody Maxwell led all defenders with 11 tackles (five solos) and a sack. Senior tackle Anthony Barkett racked up eight tackles (three solos).
Junior defensive end Doug Rogers was tough on the Colts, making six tackles (three solos), while sophomore linebacker Montell Allen made nine stops.
Senior cornerback Damian Bagby grabbed an interception and returned it 22 yards.
Senior kicker Travis Golia was 2-for-4 on PATs and was instrumental in his team’s success by putting every kick off into the Crawford end zone.
The LJCD JV squad scrimmaged JV squads from Calvin Christian, Tri-City Christian and Escondido Charter. The young Torreys looked well-drilled and fit in winning all three scrimmages.
LJCD opens the regularly scheduled season this Friday (Aug. 31) night with a home game versus The Meadows School of Las Vegas. Kick off is at 7 p.m.
Despite an Upper School student body of less than 300, The Meadows School holds the Nevada record of 51 straight wins in football with five consecutive state championships from 1998-2002
At 4 p.m., the JV Torreys will face the San Diego Jewish Academy’s varsity team, also at home.