📢 Two SoCal Heavyweights. One Epic Match. No Winner. 🏉

Are you not entertained??

That could have been the graphic on the scoreboard at the end of this game.

We previewed this match here, and it lived up to the hype in many ways. If you enjoy watching highly talented rugby teams trading blows for an hour and twenty minutes then this was your cup of tea.

The “dueling 9s” dueled. The action around the breakdown was a gritty knife fight. Big players made big plays.

The battle of Del Mar Heights Rd came down to the very last play of the game—and it resulted in a 28-28 tie game that likely left both sides wishing for just a couple more minutes on the clock.

Here’s how it went down👇

First half

Cathedral Catholic etched the scoreboard first with a heads-up interception by Finn Kenney (#14), who had a fantastic game in general. It looked like he was spying the ball all the way down the Torrey Pines line before jumping in, snatching the ball, and racing to the try zone untouched. (7-0 Cathedral)

Torrey Pines responded a few minutes later when scrum-half James Curtis saw a gap next to the ruck and struck quickly, weaving his way into Cathedral’s try zone. This score, interestingly, was also set up by an interception—this time by Torrey Pines’ Sam Violet (13). Two intercepted passes — two tries as a result. (score 7-7)

Several minutes later, Cathedral worked their way down the field and found themselves on the doorstep of Torrey’s goal line. When Torrey committed an infraction, Cathedral spun it wide very quickly and delivered the ball to Nick Ocon (#2) on the outside for another Cathedral score. Spencer Huntley slotted a difficult conversion, bringing the score to 14-7 for Cathedral.

The Torrey Pines lineout was a thing of beauty all day, and they wisely used that to their advantage on multiple occasions. With about 10 minutes left in the first half, Torrey Pines had a lineout at Cathedral’s five meter line, which led to a multiple-phase battering attack, and an excellent goal line stand by Cathedral. For a moment it looked like Torrey’s Will Schreck (#3) had scored a try, but the Cathedral boys, amazingly, held it up. It was a great moment by both teams and probably one of the best sequences of the game.

With halftime approaching, Torrey Pines leaned on their dominant lineout, and a textbook maul rumbled into the try zone for a score. James Curtis had his turn with a difficult conversion—which he slotted. (score 14-14)

Right before the halftime whistle, Spencer Huntley attempted a long distance penalty kick. It fell short, leaving the score at 14-14 at halftime.

Second Half

The second half featured some excellent play by both sides. Spencer Huntley was lethal around the ruck, flipping the field with box kicks and making some sneaky weak-side runs that gained a lot of ground. The Curtis Bros (9 and 10) of Torrey Pines dialed in their kicking game and kept Cathedral on their toes. Both teams were masterful with the poach. Every single tackle felt like an opportunity to see the ball change hands.

Speaking of the ball changing hands, Cathedral Catholic struck first in the 2nd half after stripping the ball during a tackle. Then Finn Kenney (#14) made a nice pop-pass from the floor to Dylan Trower (#10), who drew the last defender and made a gorgeous pass out to winger Henry Gausepohl (#11) for a try. (21-14 Cathedral Catholic)

A few minutes later, with Torrey Pines beating down the door on their try line, Cathedral Catholic kidnapped the ball again. Spencer Huntley launched a booming kick, the chasing Cathedral players tackled the receiving Torrey player right next to the try line and recovered the ball (hell of a play!), and a penalty was called on Torrey Pines. It looked like Cathedral was about to score…but no. The AR had called an infraction waaay back on the other side of the field.

It’s unclear what the call was (from the video at least) but it definitely felt like a momentum shifter.

The Torrey Pines boys then did what they had been doing all game: a perfect lineout which turned into a perfect maul—and another try for Torrey Pines. James Curtis made another difficult conversion to tie the game. (21-21)

In what was probably the longest period of time without a whistle blown, Cathedral Catholic put together many good phases within the Torrey 22 area. A high tackle and subsequent scrum-down to Cathedral led to another try, as their 8-man Jonathan Solomon went weak-side and pounded it in for a score. Spencer Huntley had to make ANOTHER difficult conversion—nailed it again—and Cathedral took their fourth lead of the day. (28-21 Cathedral)

Final ten minutes…

Will Schreck for Torrey Pines was a one-man wrecking crew, making huge hits and almost scoring on a well-designed lineout play. James Curtis and Spencer Huntley traded kicks-for-territory and guided their troops courageously. The forward packs waged war—with ferocious defense, bruising runs, and fierce rucking on both sides.

Eventually a bad hit led to Cathedral’s 8-man being shown a yellow card in the final few minutes. Immediately following that, Torrey Pines found their way into the try zone to tie things up yet again. (28-28)

The last play of the game, perhaps fittingly, came down to one final penalty kick attempt by James Curtis. The kick missed the mark.

Final whistle. Tie game. 28-28.

It was a phenomenal game with everything a rugby fan wants to see—except a winner. It’s a shame these two won’t meet again this season, because that felt like a match worthy of another round.

The question is…who is going to stop the San Diego Mustangs this year when many of these boys join forces for Club season?

SoCal is loaded with talent, my friends, and the Mustangs are about to be scary.

Stay tuned.

Coaches’ Quotes: