Even without a playoff, the Southern California Varsity Blue division came down to the final game, with 4-0 Point Loma HS taking on 4-1 Valhalla.

And in a classic close game, Point Loma emerged victorious 36-27 to cap off an undefeated conference season. There is no playoff series in the Blue Division, so it's all down to who wins the league standings, and that's Point Loma.

Point Loma, which fields players from Point Loma HS and High Tech High, has in the past been mostly HTH and less Point Loma. But this year, thanks in part to the recruiting of Coach Sean Collins’s son Satchel, this is mostly a Point Loma squad.

Having graduated 11 starters from last year’s team, Point Loma moved front he Varsity White to Varsity Blue divisions, and in fact were in danger of not having enough players to enter the Blue. But some dedicated recruiting got the numbers up, and the team started strong and continued to improve.

“We really had to do a recruiting push,” said Sean Collins. “We worked hard to get them up to speed, and they fell in love with the game.”

Collins said he wasn’t sure how seriously Valhalla would be taking this game, but upon reading about them in Goff Rugby Report, saw that their rivals, who train five days a week, would be ready.

“Fitness was a worry for us and we really worked at that to prepare,” said Collins. “We knew we would have to start strong.”

So they did. Thundering sophomore No. 8 Mathew Fa’Alele powered over for two tries to pace Point Loma to a 19-0 lead in the first half. But, as expected, Valhalla came storming back, and were within two points at 29-27 with five minutes to go. That’s when Cameron Auva’A made a crucial try-saving tackle to preserve the lead, and then center Tyler Mullen raced in from 20 meters out to seal the game.

“I wasn’t sure whether we could hold on, but our boys stuck to it,” said Collins.

It was a nice end for Point Loma as they managed to rebuild after losing so much of their team. Their season ends 5-0 with wins over Carlsbad (22-17), Westview (forfeit), Helix (45-10), Patrick Henry (37-12), and Valhalla 36-27.

Among the players to watch from team is speedy wing Davhaun Lemelle. The High Tech High sprinter has run 100 meters in 11.3 seconds and is Point Loma’s own Carlin Isles, because if you give him any space, he can burn defenders.