Two close games were all we needed to see this week in the SCIRF league in Southern California, as Cathedral Catholic and St. Augustine both won tight games.

St. Augustine moved to 4-0 with a 31-24 defeat of Torrey Pines. the Saints started well, with forwards Isaac Morrill and Michael Colucci helping set the platform for a potent attacking group.

Matt DeFrates And Jack Page made smart decisions in the backline and on defense center Travis Hall again was a force. This all led to a 31-17 lead, but Torrey Pines inched closer with a late try, and were in with a shot at tying the game.

"This week is we will make adjustments on how to close out a game with our group," said St. Augustine Head Coach Ethan Willis. "Letting a strong team like Torrey back into the game was disappointing. Our inability to find touch and control possession in the second half had our boys unsatisfied with how the game ended."

Still the Saints are undefeated with three league games remaining.

While St. Augustine seems to be in a good position to make the final as one of the top two teams in the SCIRF Platinum, the chase for the other spot is hot.

Torrey Pines dropped to 3-1, and remains in 2nd thanks to a close-loss bonus point. But right behind are San Clemente and Cathedral Catholic. Cathedral beat La Costa Canyon 24-19 last week in a game tha was much closer than expected.

"Both sides played extremely well," said Cathedral Head Coach Glenn Irvine. "It was very competitive. We were able to make the necessary offensive and defensive adjustments that were missing in the week's previous game versus San Clemente."

So now things come down to the final few weeks. This coming weekend Cathedral and St. Augustine play in the annual Holy Bowl rivalry game. The winner of that game will have a really good shot at a place in the league final. Torrey Pines plays San Clemente in a game that also has massive championship implications, as does the February 7 meeting between Cathedral and Torrey Pines.

Mira Costa has an outside chance to get to the top two but will need the three 3-1 teams to beat each other up and also to upset St. Augustine on February 15.

SCIRF Gold

Meanwhile, San Marcos is in a dominant position in the SCIRF Gold league. The chase is on for 2nd, and right now Steele Canyon is there after beating Granite Hills 44-15. Sitting at 3-2, Steele Canyon will need to beat Coronado next week to ensure a 2nd-place spot, while Coronado could take it with a win over San Marcos and another over Granite Hills.