Torrey Pines clinched a spot in the Southern California Varsity Red final after securing a bonus-point victory over St. Augustine Friday night.

With the win, Torrey Pines moved six points ahead of rivals Cathedral Catholic, and so can't be caught even if Cathedral wins and scores four tries.

The game itself was held on Senior Night and, as TP head Coach Matty Sandoval explained, "it was a typical Senior Night game, a bit disjointed at times. But the guys showed up and made plays when they had to."

St. Augustine No. 8 Andrew Alves punished Torrey Pines with long runs all night, while the big Saints front pack dominated on scrums. So the key for Torrey Pines was to make their rare attacking opportunities count. They did, with a backline that had been concentrating on defense all season suddenly finding its scoring touch. Wing Max Lyle intercepted a Saints pass after a long Alves run, and turning it around for an 85-meter Falcon try.

Center Tannar Dearham finishing the scoring with a nice inside pass from flyhalf Matthew Goena.

In between, lock Blake Richards-Smith and Benny Ruffolo also scored. St. Augustine got one try, from Alves, of course, but that was it. Jackson Baere added a conversion, and Richards-Smith kicked three.

Torrey Pines opened up their Varsity Red season on December 18 with a 40-12 loss to La Costa Canyon. That, at the time, seemed to be a harbinger of a tough season for TP, but LCC went on to win all of their games, and Torrey Pines continued to improve, and won the rest of theirs. While every game became something of a must-win, the Falcons stepped up nicely.

“We just got better and better each week,” said Torrey Pines captain Benny Ruffolo. 

Torrey Pines will play La Costa Canyon in the SoCal Varsity Red Final next week, and it's worth noting that way back on December 18, the teams were deadlocked 12-12 with 15 minutes to go, because LCC exploded for four tries.