Cathedral Catholic 33 — 38 Torrey Pines
The scrappy, gutsy, tough-as-nails Falcons are this year’s victors in the Battle of Del Mar Heights Rd.
Torrey Pines—winners of 5 straight games to start the season—wasn’t particularly interested in letting Cathedral Catholic set the tone in their own stadium. They came out fast and furious to open the game and quickly took a 14-0 lead with two tries—one by Rees Curtis, another by Shay Farkash, and both converted by Rees Curtis. The early momentum was firmly in the visiting Falcons’ grip, with Farkash, Ewan Hope-Bell, and Duck Choy delivering monster runs and hits, and Rees Curtis dealing smoothly at flyhalf.
This was exactly the opposite of what Cathedral needed at the start of a tough rivalry game. Would they be able to claw back into the match with Torrey snarling at the door for more?
Turns out—yes, they could, even if it took several minutes to collect themselves.
Cathedral Catholic, ever the opportunists, caught a huge break when a Rees Curtis clearance kick was blocked by prop Colin Bjerke, scooped up by flanker Mason Fiedler, and dotted down for a much-needed score. A slotted conversion brought the score to 14-7. The Dons were on the board, and the game was still early.
But Rees Curtis added three more points via penalty kick during their next opportunity, and then Shay Farkash finished off a terrific Torrey attack with his second pick-and-go try of the game. And in a flash, Torrey Pines was up 24-7 as halftime neared—and decidedly in control.
Duck Choy plows through contact against Cathedral Catholic
📸 Adam Taich
But that would be way too easy.
Cathedral mounted a sustained attack of their own and put the Falcons under tremendous pressure. Wave after wave of Cathedral ball-carriers threatened the line. Until, finally, Miles Larson spied a gap at the ruck and dove headlong into the try zone. After an excellent conversion by Trent Boyle, Cathedral went to the locker room with some momentum, though still down 24-14.
After the break, the Dons picked up steam and put Torrey Pines under pressure again. The Falcons held firm for a while, but the brilliant Kingston Hawkins cannot be contained forever—he received a nifty pop-pass from Dylan Trower about five meters out, dodged a man, and slammed the ball down for the first score of the second half.
24-21 Torrey Pines… with 35 minutes still to play.
Momentum was up for grabs during the following few minutes, as each side looked to earn the territory advantage and test the opposite back three. But an untimely penalty by the Dons put the Falcons back on the gas pedal, and lock Liam Fechko crashed over to extend the lead 31-21.
Landon Hawkins (Cathedral Catholic) delivers the ball from the ruck.
📸 Adam Taich
It appeared that Torrey was building another attacking drive, when Cathedral lock AJ Trudell scooped up a misplaced ball near the ruck and galloped 50 meters untouched into the try zone. It was one of those kinds of games—whenever the Dons seemed to be on their heels, an individual moment of brilliance swung the energy right back to the home team. With the scoreboard now 31-28 in Torrey’s favor, the margin for error vanished and the two squads were back in a dogfight.
Speaking of dogs, the Falcons forwards weren’t finished yet. After Rees Curtis found touch and set them up with great field position, the Torrey forwards put in an excellent shift inside Cathedral’s 22 meter. Shay Farkash fittingly finished the job by plunging over for his third score of the game. 38-28 Torrey Pines.
Less than ten minutes on the clock.
Battling through tired legs, the Dons mounted an impressive drive down the pitch and into Falcon territory. This time, Dylan Trower and Kingston Hawkins hooked up for the flashiest play of the game—a cross-field kick, a favorable bounce, and Hawkins snatched the ball and smashed it down for his second try of the day. A highlight moment diminished only by the dwindling time on the referee’s watch.
On the following kickoff, Kingston Hawkins tried to create some last-minute magic with a shifty run, but the Torrey pack swarmed and earned a turnover in the final seconds of the game. Rees Curtis took a moment to consult with the referee about the game clock, and boom—kick to touch. Three whistles. And the Battle of Del Mar Heights Rd. belongs to Torrey Pines this year.
Final Score: Torrey Pines 38 — 33 Cathedral Catholic.
Shay Farkash crashes into the try zone for Torrey Pines
📸 Adam Taich
“You can’t ignore Cathedral’s talent. Our plan was to limit their opportunities by denying them the gain line. We did a good job of that the first half. The second half was a different story. Fortunately, we capitalized when we had the chance in the first half, and we were able to just do enough, against a very good team, to hold on.”
Riot Takeaways:
Terrific skill by both sides. Cathedral Catholic will rue the time it took to find their rhythm. Torrey Pines—while ecstatic with the victory—will want to clean up a few kicks and the odd penalty that kept them from popping the cork much earlier in this match.
While the entire Torrey Pines pack gets the credit for doing the dirty work at the gain line, Farkash has demonstrated an uncanny nose for the goal line when it’s time to land the final punch.
Kingston Hawkins is the real deal. The guy has fantastic awareness and ball skills. When Dylan Trower was able to find him in space, Hawkins proved to be dangerous from anywhere on the pitch.
Torrey Pines is really rolling right now. Like so many past Falcons squads, these guys are just plain tough. Tough around the breakdown. Tough in their tackles. Relentless in support. Tough to beat. It’s honestly hard to shout out individual players from this team—they’re greater than the sum of their parts and everyone carries the load.
Cathedral is looking like a dangerous team. It’s been a bruiser of a ten day stretch for them. Three games against tough opponents in that time. But the second half of this match showed what they are capable of when they’re gelling.
Next up: Cathedral’s brutal schedule continues this weekend with a match against La Costa Canyon (CA), a side that Torrey Pines narrowly beat earlier this month.
Torrey Pines, meanwhile, takes on Oceanside in what should be another tightly contested game. Oceanside held Orange Lutheran to only 15 points, and then defeated San Clemente last week.
No easy games in SoCal.