Fallbrook vs St. Augustine Decides Who makes SCIRF Final
Fallbrook vs St. Augustine Decides Who makes SCIRF Final
Who plays Cathedral Catholic in the SCIRF Boys final will be determined this Saturday as the two teams with only one loss face off.
That one loss for Fallbrook and for St. Augustine was, of course, to Cathedral (who are 7-0).
This promises to be a tight game, with the two teams having had very similar results against the same opponents.
Fallbrook has a points difference of +195 in six non-forfeit games and St. Augustine has a +201. Against Cathedral, Fallbrook lost by 24 and the Saints lost by … 23. St. Augustine has the best points scored per game, and Fallbrook the best defensive points allowed per game. You get the idea.
Under Coach Eric Dent St. Augustine has found some up-and-coming talent among their younger players, and shown plenty of resilience. Their recent game with Mira Costa shows that, as they turned a pretty tight game into a fairly comfortable victory with some tactical and attitudinal adjustments.
Players such as Logan McKerring, Xavier Escobar, Adolfo Labastida, James Root, and youngsters Caelyb Aquirre and Sebastian Tucker have all put in strong performances.
For Fallbrook, under Coach Sierra Arteaga, they have produced some excellent defensive performances, holding three teams to no tries. Center Alan Leon, flanker Manny Reyes, prop Gabe Mendoza, and fullback George Aquilar have all led well.
Arteaga wants his side to understand space a bit better, and certainly they will need to against the Saints.
Cathedral Catholic will be waiting for the winner of this game for the SCIRF final at CC’s field in San Diego on February 24.
Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that Servite, which was hit very hard by COVID shutdowns, has come back with a vengeance, beating St. John Bosco, La Costa Canyon, Mission Bay, and Warren to sit now at 4-2. Yes their losses to Fallbrook and St. Augustine weren’t close, but they were also Servite’s first two games back from being essentially shut down. Since then, they’ve gone 4-0. OK, sure, Servite plays Cathedral next week, and while Cathedral is favored for sure, this will be an interesting measuring stick of how far they’ve come.
Here are the standings so far. Cathedral has clinched a place in the final.
| SCIRF | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Total |
| Cathedral Catholic | 7 | 0 | 0 | 305 | 77 | 228 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
| Fallbrook | 6 | 1 | 0 | 284 | 61 | 223 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| St. Augustine | 5 | 1 | 0 | 303 | 102 | 201 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| Servite | 4 | 2 | 0 | 128 | 213 | -85 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| John Bosco | 2 | 4 | 0 | 105 | 144 | -39 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Mira Costa | 2 | 4 | 0 | 98 | 183 | -85 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Mission Bay | 1 | 5 | 0 | 85 | 224 | -139 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| La Costa Canyon | 1 | 5 | 0 | 53 | 180 | -127 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Warren | 0 | 6 | 0 | 94 | 298 | -204 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Overall the SCIRF season has been quite successful, with nine teams in action (plus one as a development team) and only a couple of forfeits from the Bosco team whose depth was stretched. The league, which is now mostly public schools, is expected to grow as more athletic directors are now looking at the league as a positive experience for their students.
