High school football playoffs: Bishop’s advances with win in OT; road ends for La Jolla High and Country Day

The Bishop’s School stands alone among La Jolla’s three high school varsity football teams in advancing to the semifinals of the 2022 CIF San Diego Section playoffs after quarterfinal games Nov. 11.

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Photo gallery: Scenes from the fields as La Jolla football teams tackle CIF playoffs

All three of La Jolla’s high school varsity football teams competed Nov. 11 in the quarterfinals of the 2022 CIF San Diego Section playoffs, but only The Bishop’s School came away with a win.

Bishop’s won a 28-27 overtime nail-biter over Imperial in Division III play on the La Jolla High School field.

The Knights trailed 14-7 going to the fourth quarter and 21-13 with about five minutes left after Imperial’s Christopher Tiernan ran 81 yards for a touchdown.

Bishop’s, however, bounced right back a minute later with a 72-yard TD pass from quarterback William Fierro to Jaden Moore, followed by a two-point conversion to tie it.

The Knights survived when the Tigers missed a 39-yard field goal attempt at the end of regulation time, sending the game to OT.

A 25-yard touchdown pass from Fierro to Raynall Thornton gave the Knights a 28-21 lead.

Imperial answered with a 1-yard TD run by Seth Shaw, but the Knights stopped the Tigers’ attempt to win the game with a two-point conversion and held on for the victory. Imperial finished the season 8-4.

“Imperial did a great job making the game difficult,” Bishop’s coach Shane Walton said. “They were disciplined and physical. It was a great game. For the most part, we did well stopping what they wanted to do offensively. We had two missed assignments and they had two big touchdowns during those missed assignments.”

Bishop’s (9-2), which entered the playoffs as the division’s fourth seed, next will visit No. 1 seed University City (9-2) at 7 p.m. Nov. 18. The Centurions defeated Rancho Buena Vista, 41-19, on Nov. 11.

Walton said the Knights’ focus for the game against University City will be on practice to reach top form.

“We come to work and execute,” he said. “We need to understand how we’re going to be attacked and apply it on the field.”

La Jolla High School

La Jolla’s season ended with a 56-25 loss in a Division II matchup at top-seeded Granite Hills of El Cajon (9-2).

Justin Scully and Jackson Diehl rushed for touchdowns for La Jolla, while Austin Bale threw a TD pass to Hank Hansen. Sully had 175 yards total offense.

The Vikings finished 6-6 overall.

La Jolla Country Day School

In Division IV, La Jolla Country Day fell at home, 27-21, to Palo Verde of Blythe (11-1).

Palo Verde scored the only touchdown of the fourth quarter to break a 21-21 tie and held on for the win.

Country Day’s Jaden Mangini threw a touchdown pass to Jordan Hochberg and ran for more than 100 yards and two TDs.

The Torreys, who entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the division, finished the season 7-4.

— La Jolla Light and The San Diego Union-Tribune ◆