Bishop’s edges Country Day in football battle

In a battle of city rivals and two of San Diego County’s top small school football programs, The Bishop’s School edged La Jolla Country Day, 14-13, on Sept. 18. The Knights moved to 2-0 this season while handing the Torreys their first loss in three games.

Country Day scored first, on a 2-yard Montell Allen run set up when the Torreys’ Indie Lavarias recovered a fumble on a Bishop’s punt attempt.

Bishop’s evened the score before the first quarter was done on Alec Fisher’s 15-yard touchdown run. Fisher found the end zone again in the third quarter, on an 8-yard run.

Country Day got within one point on Derek Hatfield’s 14-yard scoring strike to tight end Mical Bailey with just over two minutes to play. The Torreys got the ball at the 1-yard line for the point-after attempt due to a Bishop’s penalty and elected to go for a two-point conversion and the win, but Montell Allen was stuffed at the line.

For Country Day, Hatfield connected on 13 of his 29 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown while also rushing 10 times for 36 yards. His favorite target was Connor Gerhart, who caught three passes for 90 yards.

Allen paced Country Day’s defense with 14 tackles. Defensive tackle Junior Togiaso made 13, and Bailey had nine.

Individual statistics for Bishop’s were not available.

La Jolla High School rolled to a 30-20 victory over San Diego High School on Sept. 18, improving to 1-1 this season.

Quarterback Zac Zlatic completed 10 of his 16 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions while also rushing eight times for 39 yards. He connected with Taylor Davis five times for 48 yards, including touchdown strikes of 27 and 18 yards. Tyler Bassler also scored twice, on 2-yard run and a 14-yard pass from Zlatic.

Braden Fudge converted three of his four point-after-touchdown attempts and made a 41-yard field goal. Jose Aviles led the defense with a sack, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble.

Girls’ volleyball

La Jolla High School fell to Orange Lutheran, 23-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19, 15-9 on Sept. 16. Haley Cameron led the Vikings with 22 kills, and Grace Drozda added 11.

Country Day topped Mt. Carmel, 25-14, 25-12, 25-15 on Sept. 15. Lauren Birks led the way with 13 kills, and Mollie Rogers added 10.

The Torreys improved to 11-0 this season with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-17 win over Santa Fe Christian on Sept. 17. Birks had 15 kills, and Rogers added 11.

Bishop’s opened its season with a 25-17, 29-27, 25-21 victory over San Dieguito Academy on Sept. 14. Kristen Casey, Thea Derrough and Maddie Lord led the Knights with 10 kills each, and Hannah Saber added 10 digs.

Bishop’s competed in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix starting Sept. 16, and went 7-1, finishing third after losing a 25-21, 24-26, 15-12 match to Clovis West in the semifinals.

Ina Kamenova tallied more than 150 kills in the tournament, and Casey, Derrough and Lord were dominant hitting. Stephanie Yetter and Sydney Seau chipped in offensively, and A.J. Kiyoizumi and Kelly McPherson were solid defensively, coach Tod Mattox said.

Girls’ golf

La Jolla High secured a 241-325 victory over Madison at Balboa Park Golf Course on Sept. 14, behind Juliette Garay’s score of 1-under-par 35 and Jasmine Graze’s 49.

The Vikings topped Crawford, 271-371, on Sept. 16 on the Torrey Pines North Course. Garay paced La Jolla with a score of 3-over-par 39.

La Jolla Country Day fell to Canyon Crest Academy, 240-268, on Sept. 17 at Encinitas Ranch Golf Course. Freshman Kristen Mizutani led the Torreys by carding a 45, and Jennie Kim shot 48.

The Bishop’s School secured a 227-325 victory over San Dieguito Academy on Sept. 15 at Encinitas Ranch. Courtney Hooton led the Knights with a score of 1-over-par 37, and Spenser Krut carded a 39.

Cross country

The Bishop’s School competed in the Mt. Carmel Invitational on Sept. 19, with some positive individual results. The Knights’ top performance came from Will Botta, who finished second in the sophomore boys’ race with a time of 16 minutes, 40 seconds over a 2.95-mile course. Lauren Collins placed eighth in the junior girls’ race, clocking 17:11 over 2.7 miles.

Boys’ water polo

La Jolla Country Day beat Chula Vista, 14-4, on Sept. 15. The Torreys rolled to a 17-4 win over Mar Vista on Sept. 16.

Gregory Ball covers sports for La Jolla Light. He can be reached at ballgregory@yahoo.com.