Torrey Pines defeated Cathedral Catholic 25-21 Friday night to move into 2nd place in Southern California’s Varsity Red.

In a thrilling game, lock Blake Richards-Smith scored a try with eight minutes to go to put Torrey Pines ahead, a lead they would not relinquish.

“It was an unbelievable battle,” said Torrey Pines Head Coach Matty Sandoval. “We were very fortunate to win that game. Cathedral brings a lot of size and athleticism and we handled it with grit and heart.”

Richards-Smith goes over for the winner. Denise Cavanaugh photo.

Cathedral took an early 7-0 with a converted try. Torrey Pines replied with a penalty goal from flanker Jackson Baere. But Cathedral answered with another try to lead 12-3. Cathedral was, at this point, dominating proceedings. 

But last in the first half, Richards-Smith took a lineout throw, and set up a maul. That maul was stopped just short of the line, but Richards-Smith managed to offload to hooker Nick Zimmer for a crucial try. That made it 12-8 Cathedral at halftime. its own way.

In the second half, Cathedral hit a penalty to make it 15-8, but then Torrey Pines tied it up. Prop Benny Ruffolo took a quick tap on a penalty and spun out of a tackle to go over. Baere’s conversion made it a 15-15 deadlock.

Cathedral put more pressure on and that resulted in two kickable penalties, both converted, to make it 21-15. Baere inched TP closer with a penalty. Then Torrey Pines worked their way down to the Cathedral tryline, and Richards-Smith picked up about six inches from paydirt and dove over. 

The game was far from over and Cathedral threw all they could at the Torrey Pines defense, but Pines held.

Richards-Smith was huge (literally, he’s 6-4, and figuratively, as he set up one try and scored another). He was brilliant in the lineout and led from the front. 

Torrey Pines started three sophomores: flyhalf Matthew Goena, scrumhalf Beau Morgans, and prop Michael Perrone.

The win puts Torrey Pines at 4-1 with 19 standings points. But they have confirmed nothing, as Cathedral, at 4-2, has 17 points thanks to three bonus points for four tries in a game, and two bonus points for close losses (including this one).

So all eyes move to next week, where Cathedral plays Fallbrook, and Torrey Pines plays St. Augustine. Torrey Pines needs a win or a Cathedral loss to clinch, but a tie or loss by TP would open them up to being overtaken for a spot in the final.