Torrey Pines held off Long Beach Poly 31-26 in a dramatic and intense SoCal school final.

Both teams will move on to the All-California finals against De La Salle and Jesuit in Northern California.

Poly struck first with a vertical attack testing the Pines defense and going over for a converted try and a 7-0 lead. Torrey answered with tighthead prop Chase Wetsel taking it from the base and dotting it down from 10 meters out. Jonty Lee converted and it was 7-7.

Lee then saw a little gap after LB Poly over-committed to covering dangerous fullback Riley Elliott. Lee was through untouched and it was 14-7. A long-range penalty goal made it 17-7 before LB Poly powered over through their forwards to make it 17-14. 

Torrey used their kicking game to gain territory, and scored on a lineout win off first phase. No. 8 Evan Doan did the honors to make it 24-14.

Another huge kick pinned Poly at their five-meter line, and quick turnover led to prop Jacob Marsh going over.

So now it was 31-14 Torrey Pines with 10 minutes to go. LB Poly, however, was not done. They ran inside balls to hard runners and kept charging on. A try made it 31-19. From the restart the Poly forwards barreled ahead and scored again. 31-26 with two minutes to go.

In those final two minutes LB Poly threw everything at Torrey Pines but the TP defense held on, making key tackles behind the gain line.

Poly had one more shot but a swarm of tacklers put the ball into touch and that was the game.

The Story of the SoCal School Final

"We knew Poly would be a different team than we played the last time," said Torrey Pines Coach Matty Sandoval. "They're huge, athletic, and play with pride. We haven't been tested before today, but I'm proud our boys dug deep and and showed some starch when it was most needed." 

Meanwhile, De La Sale defeated Jesuit of Sacramento 45-10 to win the  Northern California school title.

De La Salle played with adventure and almost scored right after the kickoff. Michael Freeman took a kick that didn't reach touch up the sideline and caught his own chip kick over their wing. But his final offload missed the target. Still, it was an indication of what De La Salle wanted to do.

The Spartans ran in four tries in the first half to lead 26-3, and cruised from there. Hayden Bullota, who normally plays fullback for De La Salle, stepped in at scrumhalf and played superbly. Dominic Besag moved from center to fullback forcing a shuffle in the midfield with JJ Tofaeono and Marley Alapati. Joey Manzone came in as part of the back row and partnered nicely with Sam Carlson.

All showed well in new roles but Besag especially seemed to revel in his new position, scoring four tries and earning Back of the Match.

Chase Tofaeono was the top forward and the halfback combination of Bullota and Freeman was very effective.