The Santa Fe Christian Eagles beat the La Jolla Country Day Torreys last night at La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) by a score of 38-14. The Eagles remain undefeated and are now 8-0 on the season and 4-0 in the Coastal League. Santa Fe Christian shares the Coastal League lead with the Orange Glen Patriots. Next Friday the Eagles travel to Escondido to play the Patriots in a game that should determine which teams wins the 2021 Coastal League title.
In last night’s game the SFC offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage opening holes for the SFC running game. The Eagles rushed for over 325 yards on the night. Eight different Eagles ran the ball with multiple players racking up big yards on the ground - Luca Torti ran for 85 yards and a touchdown, Colton Lehberg ran for 84 and 3 touchdowns, Kevin Olah rushed for 83, and Jackson Bush added 53 yards and a touchdown. Bush also had 2 kickoff returns for 67 yards (33.5 yards per return).
In a first for the season, Chase Wetzel got to carry the ball and ran for 10 yards. The poor defense back for LJCD that had to tackle Wetzel pretty much got blown‑up on the tackle, including having his helmet pop off. We look forward to seeing Mr. Wetzel run the ball again.
Thomas Greupner and Zack Marshall connected through air for 7 completions and 135 yards, including a 46-yard strike. The Eagles offense scored on every possession, except for two – one on a fumble recovered by LJCD and the other a kneel‑down on the last drive of the game as time expired. With the SFC offense controlling the ball, grinding out long drives, and converting on key 3rd and 4th down situations, the Eagles did not have to punt the ball.
The Eagles defense came out firing on all cylinders shutting down the high powered LJCD passing attack. Coming into the game the Torrey’s quarterback was leading all San Diego County quarterbacks in passing yards and had only thrown 3 interceptions through 7 games. But the Torrey’s passing game was no match for the SFC defense. The defensive line put pressure on the quarterback the entire game and the team collected 2 interceptions – one each by Brendan DeBont and Jackson Bush. Heggie had a quarterback sack and 5 quarterback hurries. Luca Torti led the team in tackles with six and DeBont, Heggie, Zack Marshall, and Chase Wetzel each had 5 tackles.
On special teams, Colton Lehberg made a 34-yard field goal on the last play of the first half. It was the second time this year that SFC ended the first half with a field goal as time expired (Bishops was the other game). Lehberg collected 26 points on the night – 3 TDs, 1 field goal, and 5 extra points.
The “Talon Shoutouts” this week go to:
The Offensive Line (controlling the line of scrimmage with SFC runners gaining 329 yards and allowing the Eagles to control the time of possession)
Colton Lehberg (84 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns, 34-yard field goal, and 5 extra points)
Jackson Bush (53 rushing yards, 1 touchdown, 67 yards in kickoff returns, and an interception)
Luca Torti (team leading 85 rushing yards, 1 touchdown, and a team leading 6 tackles)
Zack Marshall (7 catches for 135 yards, and 5 tackles)
Brendon DeBont (1 interception and 5 tackles)
The next game for SFC is against the Orange Glen Patriots in Escondido on Friday night (10/22) at 7:00pm. To win that game, the SFC defense will need to put pressure on and contain Orange Glen quarterback, Dennis Andrew, who is 3rd in San Diego County in passing yards and has 24 passing touchdowns; and the SFC offense will need to avoid turnovers and control the game with long drives like they did against the Torreys last night.
Go Eagles!