FALL SPORTS UPDATE
CROSS COUNTRY
The league cluster meet slated for Oct. 2 was cancelled due to heat and will not be rescheduled. The league finals will be on Nov. 6. For more information, visit lbxc.org for girls team info and lagunabeachcrosscountry.com for boys.
FLAG FOOTBALL (5-10, 3-8)
Laguna lost a pair of league contests recently dropping a 41-6 contest to league leader Woodbridge (16-6, 11-0) on Oct. 2 at the Warrior field and a 34-19 loss to Rosary Academy at Laguna on Oct. 7. Kayleigh Thomas was the standout against the Royals (14-8, 7-4) with nine catchers for 104 yards and a score. She also had a 50-yard interception return for a score.
FOOTBALL (6-0, 1-0)
Defense made plays as Laguna held on to a 7-6 win over a determined Northwood squad (5-1) last Friday night at the Irvine HS Stadium in a contest filled with suspense and drama expected in a showdown of undefeated teams. The host Timberwolves had dropped four straight meetings with Laguna giving up five touchdowns in each encounter and were not looking past the Breakers this year.
Jack Hooper took the opening kickoff 34 yards from the Breaker 10 to start the initial drive from Laguna 44-yard mark. The Breakers learned quickly that the Northwood defense would be stingy, and it took 11 plays to march 41 yards to the Northwood 15. Pass coverage was exceedingly tight as Laguna lost the possession on an end zone interception returned 27 yards into the field of play. The Breakers allowed only one net yard to the Timberwolves and forced a punt.
On Laguna’s second possession, Jackson Kollock learned how difficult passing would be with the exceptional Northwood secondary. Once again, the Timberwolves intercepted the ball, ending Laguna’s last first-quarter try. In 14 plays, the confident hosts marched down to the Breaker 4-yard line, but their field goal attempt was wide right. Laguna took over possession and for it all on the third play as Kollock tossed a perfect pass deep to a well-covered Luke Jolley, who snagged the ball and avoided the defender for a 78-yard score. Jolley’s point after touchdown was perfect, and the Breakers would lead the rest of the game.
Northwood didn’t give up and marched 53 yards in 11 plays to score with less than a minute remaining in the half.
The Timberwolves point-after try failed as a trio of Laguna linemen (Leo Adjemian, Henry Rounaghi and Ollie Lyles pressured the Northwood to attempt, with Lyles getting a hand on the ball for the block.
Northwood got the ball to open the second half, but on their first play from scrimmage, Luke Jolley intercepted the pass and returned the ball to the Northwood 25-yard-line. Momentum seemed to be with Laguna, but the Timberwolves dug in, and Laguna was unable to take advantage, turning the ball over on downs.
Northwood’s two remaining possessions in the third period were short and uneventful, while Laguna had a good drive but not enough for a red-zone appearance.
The Timberwolves’s one fourth-quarter possession looked like it would give them the winning points as they drove 32 yards in five plays, with a 27-yard pass play providing the big pop. Laguna then stopped the next play for no gain with tackles by Henry Rounaghi, Leo Adjemian and Redmond Chesley. Northwood then tried two pass plays, one overthrown into the endzone and the other overthrown to the flat. The Timberwolves elected to try a 35-yard field goal, but the fumbled snap was improvised by the Northwood quarterback, who completed a pass on what appeared to be a leaping drive-saving play, but it was two yards short of the first down thanks to a quick tackle by Rounaghi. Kollock was patient on his subsequent pass completions and Chesley was unstoppable running as the Breakers ran out the lock on 12 consecutive plays, including four first downs to escape with the victory.
THIS WEEK: Oct. 11 Breakers vs. #159 Fountain Valley at 7 p.m. at Guyer Field
The Baron’s ranking is misleading as they played a tough schedule after beating Ocean View 49-6 to open the season. Losses were to #121 Esperanza, #100 Marina, #36 Tustin, and #38 Edison. Last week, they narrowly lost to #119 Orange 21-14. Breakers will face a team nearly a mirror image of their squad. Lucas Alexander is the quarterback, and Luke Taylor is the main target. Laguna has played the Barons only once – back in their opponent’s first season of competition in 1966 with a 26-6 Laguna win. For the past 50 seasons, Fountain Valley has been in the Sunset League for football.
NEXT WEEK: Oct. 18 at #98 Aliso Niguel at 7 p.m..
The Breakers’ last regular-season road game will be against the Wolverines (4-2), who lost their league opener 20-10 to Dana Hills (6-0). Aliso is a deep squad, and Laguna is beginning to show the season wear with its thin bench. The Breakers will be without starting linemen Charlie Kelly, Hudson Mills and Sam Boxberger for the rest of the season. Laguna is 0-5 with Aliso Niguel dating back to the first years of Aliso in the 1990s.
See the Cal Preps website for ratings, schedules, scores, etc. at calpreps.com. Game video highlights are posted on Max Preps at maxpreps.com/ca.
GIRLS GOLF (2-9, 0-)
Laguna dropped another league match on Oct. 3 at Ben Browns, losing to Rosary Academy 215-239.
Alayna Votino and Yan Yee Cai from the Royals earned match co-medalist honors with each shooting a score of 40.
Sofia Carr posted Laguna’s low score of 42 (her lowest score of the season). Additional Breaker scores included Alani Sciacca’s 48, Spencer Anderson’s 48, Sienna Herdmann’s 52 and Olivia Vermilya’s 59.
BOYS SAND VOLLEYBALL (7-2, 3-2)
Laguna defeated Pacifica Christian/OC on Oct. 8 at Main Beach
#1 Kai Patchell / James Vermilya lost 17-21, 18-21 L
#2 Dylan Sweet / Perry Ribarich won 21-17, 21-11
#3 Luke Singer / John Tavey won 21-8, 21-19
#4 Ben Goodwin / Nico Lerum won 21-15, 21-17
#5 Grey Bulloch/ Leo Pardun won 21-19, 21-12
4 MAN (Patchell, Vermilya, Sweet, Ribarch) won 28-20
Playoffs begin next week, with Laguna receiving a first-round bye in the 16-team league. Back on Sept. 27, Laguna held their 2nd Annual Pairs Championships at Main Beach.
Champs: Corona Del Mar #1 Team – Brogan Glenn/ Ben Brown (Won 21-18, 21-18)
Second Place: Edison High School #1 Team – Nate Jackson/ Connor McNally
Third Place Team: Huntington Beach High School #1 Team – Asher Mitchell/ Logan Hutnick.
GIRLS TENNIS (2-5, 1-1)
Laguna Singles players picked up five set wins to help the Breakers edge Northwood on a set tie breakers 85/83 on Oct. 3 at the Laguna courts. Rebecca MacCallum won her sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 while Izzy Lobosco went 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 in her rounds. This past Tuesday, Laguna lost to the #1 OC team, Portola, 16-2, on the Bulldog’s courts. Rebecca MacCallum and the doubles team of Rachel Jolley/Chloe Balliet were the only set winners for Laguna.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL (5-23, 3-3)
Despite their record, Laguna has entered the season’s final weeks and still in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Oct. 3 #294 Irvine 25-15, 25-22, 25-12
The Breakers used the entire 15-member squad and had no issues defeating Irvine (3-17, 0-7) in their final regular season home game. With a pre-game ceremony, the team also honored their two graduating seniors, Middles Sadie Holmes and Baylie Bina. For the Irvine match, Holmes led in kills (6) along with Ivy Bianchi. Jordan Flynn had four service aces, while Sienna Utge recorded three aces.
Oct. 7 lost to #218 Foothill 19-25, 24-26, 28-30
Laguna had leads of 22-18 in set two and 23-15 in set three but could not finish a loss at the Foothill gym. Sadie Holmes led the attack with six kills and four blocks.
Up next: Laguna must win one of the remaining two matches to advance to the playoffs. Division assignment will be based on the numerical rankings based on the current season results of all of the 532 teams with 282 squads gaining automatic placement based on their league finish. Depending on where the nine brackets break in the final rankings, a limited number of at-large spots may also exist. Playoff brackets will be released on Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. on cifss.org.
Final Two Regular Season Matches:
Oct. 10 at #80 St. Margaret’s (Breakers lost first meeting 12-25, 25-17, 18-25, 10-25)
Oct. 15 at #108 Northwood (Breakers won first meeting 15-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 15-11).
BOYS WATER POLO (10-10, 3-0)
The Breakers had no trouble overwhelming Woodbridge 19-8 at the Warrior’s pool. Gavin Goode had five goals with Dylan Williams and Max Sauers each scoring four. The victory over Woodbridge (16-4, 1-2) leaves three regular season league games remaining: Oct. 10. University (8-6, 0-3), Oct. 15. at Portola ( 8-11, 1-2) and Oct. 16.with Irvine (10-10, 2-2). The league carnival tournament on October 21-13 will be a playoff to determine the SSCIF entries.
Also last week, Laguna lost to a good Long Beach Wilson squad 14-11 at the Belmont Plaza pool in Long Beach. Dylan Williams had five goals to lead Laguna.
Scoring leaders after 20 games: 72 – Dylan Willams, 46 – Max Sauers, 31 – Gavin Goode, 25 – Sam Skenderian, 15 – Lucas Rose, 14 – Dane Seybold, 11 – Zach Hornstein.
Have a note on Laguna high school sports? Email Frank at frank@twometer.net. Looking for 2024-25 High School schedules and scores? Check Laguna Beach High School on the Max Preps website or the schedules tab on the athletics website at lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/schedules. To get scores on the school site – select the sport and level, click year, and move the “show older events” toggle under the 2024-25 year.
