Cathedral Catholic moved into a tie for first in the Southern California Varsity Red division with a 31-12 defeat of St. Augustine, setting up a clash of undefeateds this coming weekend.

In a well-played game which St. Augustine needed to stay in the hunt, Cathedral took a slim 10-0 lead into halftime thanks to a penalty from Jack Vecchio and a try from . St. Augustine edged closer in the second half with a try from No. 8 Alex Alves, but Cathedral’s Ryan James scored two quick tries - one from a pick-and-go and one from an interception - to essentially put the game out of reach.

Cathedral was able to open up the game in the last quarter and Cody Waldecker had a strong game in the lineouts, winning Cathedral ball and repeatedly stealing Saints ball. He also scored the first try of the game. No. 8 Liam Brady was dominate at the point of contact.

“We were able to take advantage of Ryan James’s ability to kick deep punts so we were able to pressure the Saints fullback and wings, allowing us to keep them under pressure and deep in their territory,” said Cathedral Coach Glenn Irvine. Flyhalf Kyson Jester kept the Cathedral backline moving forward and played exceptional defense against a tough St. Augustine attack.

This is a longtime school rivalry. Cathedral and St. Augustine have been playing each other for over half a century, and the players involved in this rugby game play against each other in football, as well as playing as teammates and rivals on Southern California club rugby teams. The players congratulated each other on a well-played game after the final whistle.

The victory sets up the big game next week, with 3-0 Cathedral facing 3-0 La Costa Canyon for what will certainly be 1st in the conference. Whether the championship game will be a repeat of that matchup remains to be seen. Why? Torrey Pines.

Torrey Pines defeated Fallbrook 41-36 Saturday to move to 2-1 and if they continue on a roll against Del Norte, Cathedral, and St. Augustine (no easy task), they could push their way into the top two.

Torrey Pines got some revenge for losing to Fallbrook last year. HS All American prop Benn Ruffolo opened the scoring with a try, and while Fallbrook flanker Kenneth Wallace tied it, but Ruffolo got his second and then flanker CJ Fry blocked a kick and fell on it to give TP a cushion. That cushion remained after Ian Black scored for the Falcons, but Fallbrook scored twice to tie the game at 29-29. In a thrilling finish, flyhalf Matthew Goena kicked deep on a penalty and Fry chased it down to set up fellow loose forward Jackson Baere for the game-winner.

Baere’s goalkicking, good for a penalty and four conversions, helped him to a personal haul of 16 and was one of the difference-makers in the game.

Del Norte won 44-5 over Poway to imporve to 2-1-1. That puts Del Norte at 2-1-1 and in 3rd, making next week's game with Torrey Pines all that most important. However, Del Norte also has La Costa Canyon left to play. Basically Del Norte and Torrey Pines are still in the hunt for a top two spot, but to do that they need to win the rest of their games, and also might want the other to make life difficult for LCC, as well.

Unofficial SoCal Varsity Red Standings: