SoCal Latest: Torrey Pines, Mira Costa, Cathedral

01.12.2026HS Boys

Torrey Pines won the SoCal single-school final in 2025. Photo Alex Goff.

Author: Alex Goff

We’re now in the thick of the new SoCal Premier League and things are pretty close.

Bucking that trend would be Cathedral Catholic, which won big over St. Augustine, but the other two games in the league were within a try.

Cathedral Catholic 67 St. Augustine 15

“It was a good start,” said Cathedral Head Coach Matt Hawkins. “All-in-all this season has provided new challenges with the West Coast 7s, the new playoff structure and the ability for us to play in a State Championship … if we are fortunate enough to make it.”

At first glance it does seem like Cathedral will be fortunate enough.

To ensure they can be ready, Cathedral will actually be hosting Charlotte Catholic next week, taking advantage of a bye week to play potentially the top school team from North Carolina.

“I have no doubt it will be a very hard fought game and I know our players are really excited for the chance to test themselves against a great team,” said Hawkins. “But more importantly I really hope this is the start of an annual fixture which has us trade off travel on alternating years.”

Mira Costa 17 Loyola LA 10

The Mira Costa forwards were quite powerful in this match and controlled possession well. But Head Coach Duke Dulgarian also felt his team overall lacked the fitness and the precision to finish off those movements.

Their timing was a bit off, too, and at halftime all the Mustangs had to show for their efforts was a Theo Mackaman penalty goal and a 3-0 lead.

Loyola punished a misplayed kick and swarmed in to score a try early in the second half, and then followed that by punishing a Mira Costa penalty. They took the lineout and mauled it in from long range to take a 10-3 lead.

Mira Costa started to move the ball a bit better later in the second half and a nice series of passes put center Liam Meeker through for a try, which Mackaman converted.

That tied it up, and then the Costa forwards took over. Led by the hard carries from props Colin McGinley and Ben Martin, and helped along by lock Will Rusnak, they got close to the line where hooker Haden Pedersen crashed over. Conversion good and Mira Costa had come back to win it 17-10.

Torrey Pines 21 La Costa Canyon 15

In a battle of contrasts Torrey Pines looked to use their kicking game and outside backs against a big, physically powerful LCC squad. The result was three tries each, but the conversions saw Torrey Pines hold on 21-15.

“We held on” said Torrey Pines Head Coach Matty Sandoval. “They came out really ferocious and they had their way physically for the first 10 minutes.”

LCC did get over the line but that try was called back. Torrey Pines was the able to turn the momentum around a little bit, with lock David Choy powering ahead and Shay Farkash effective with ball in hand.

With young Reese Curtis putting in a variety of kicks to keep LCC on their heels, Torrey Pines was able to chase, defend, force turnovers, and score three tries in the first half.

Curtis converted all of them.

Profile of Reese Curtis and his summer in New Zealand>>

LCC did get over for a second try just before the break to make it 21-10. But Sandoval said his team felt pretty confident.

“We felt pretty good about ourselves,” said Sandoval. “”We knew we could clean some stuff up. But it turned into a dogfight the whole second half.”

LCC got one more try and that was it for the scoring in the second half. Led by flyhalf Max Ricono, they produced some good scoring chances. However, the Torrey Pines discipline and commitment to defense allowed the Falcons to hold on.

“They just kept tackling and tackling and tackling until they turned it over,” said Sandoval. “And generally when we get the ball we figure out how to put points on the board.”

Curtis really helped in that department, and his boot made field position a problem for a very tough LCC side.

“They are our main rivals in every sport,” Sandoval said. “This was a good showing for us and we’re relieve to get it out of the way.”