FALL SPORTS UPDATE
FOOTBALL (7-1, 1-0)
Breakers Roll Ocean View for Homecoming Victory 64-0
Laguna easily took their 67th homecoming contest with a 64-0 rout of the visiting Seahawks in the opening league contest. The Breakers are on track to capture a school-record third straight title, the sport’s 17th title in 89 seasons of play.
Last Friday night’s contest was played before the usual overflow homecoming game crowd, who were treated to the most lopsided victory in the annual event. The Breakers wasted no time on the opening drive, marching 75 yards in seven plays for the first score on a Nick Rogers run. The point-after snap was bobbled, and kicker Nico Vidaurri-Tucker scooped up the ball and scampered into the end zone for two points. His remaining eight kicks for the evening were perfectly executed.
Ocean View turned over their possessions on downs three times and an interception once. Their six punts were Laguna scored on two one-play drives, three two-play drives and two three-play drives. A number of freshmen saw significant play time, including Jack Hurst, Wyatt Bogdan and Brady Stringham, all of whom will impact future teams.
Sophomore Grant Regal had the interception and also scored off a pass from Jack Hurst.
Redmond Chesley tied the rushing touchdown record on the game’s final play with a 95-yard touchdown run, matching the all-time record for a play set by Drake Martinez on Sept. 13, 2012, against Glenn in a contest played at Excelsior High School. Redmond is the seventh Chesley to score a tough down for Laguna, spanning three generations back to Tom in 1960.
2023 Laguna Football Game #8 vs. Ocean View – STATISTICS
Rush: Rogers 3-18, Towe 5-35, Chesley 1-95, Hurst 2-(3), Kollock 1-8
Pass: Kollock 21-11-0, 290 yards, five touchdowns, Hurst 8-7-0 92 yards, two touchdowns.
Rec: Swanson 3-69, Hunt 2-55, Bogdan 2-13, Tyson 1-19, Rogers 1-66, Vellmure 1-55,
Degner 1-13, Towe 2-2, Regal 1-39, Stringham 1-48, Cureton 2-7, Hooper 1-(4)
Returns – Interception: Regal 1-0,
Punt & KOR – none
Punts: Mills 1-50
GAME MILESTONES:
TEAM: 535 Total offense ranks #9th- 383 yards passing ranks sixth.
Margin of victory ranks #2 – Laguna points scored ranks #6th all-time.
Shutout – #108 in Laguna history. The last time was 40-0 over Ocean View last season.
Next: Friday, Oct. 20, is Senior Night versus Godinez (3-4). The Breakers lead the series 6-5 and won last year 48-0. The final regular season game is Friday, Oct. 27, at Westminster (5-2).
2023 Football Score Log (With current Cal Preps ranking and enrollment for the Southern Section – 373 schools – Breakers are #88 this week with a 930 announced student enrollment.
Aug. 17 – lost to #99 Chino 27-26. Enrollment: 1,900
Aug. 25 – beat #116 Dana Hills 24-10. Enrollment: 1,987
Sept. 1 – beat #168 Northwood 35-21. Enrollment: 2,341
Sept. 8 – beat #133 Santa Ana 68-48. Enrollment: 3,018
Sept. 22 – beat #286 Lakeside 75-12. Enrollment: 1,738
Sept. 29 – beat #123 Charter Oak 18-17. Enrollment: 1,334
Oct. 5 – beat #217 Garden Grove 42-7. Enrollment: 2,230
Oct. 13 – #315 Ocean View (Homecoming). Enrollment: 1,271
Oct. 20 – #344 Godinez (Senior Night). Enrollment: 1,993
Oct. 27 at #190 Westminster. Enrollment: 2,639
Game recaps and video highlights are posted on the football page at the Laguna Max Preps within a few hours of the game concluding. It’s a great way to see the top plays of the evening. www.maxpreps.com/ca/laguna-beach/laguna-beach-breakers/football.
The 112-page Football Record Book is posted in PDF format at www.lbhsathletics.com in the Football section under Alumni/history. The book contains records, scores and historical photos – all you need to know about Laguna football. Current statistics are posted at the Max Preps site.
CROSS COUNTRY:
Laguna girls captured the “Small School” title at the Orange County Championships held on Friday, Oct. 13, at the Oak Canyon Park course in Silverado. Breakers finished with a team time of 1:36.54 for the 3-mile course. Leading Laguna was Sydney Sydney with a time of 18:32.3, and also scoring were Yolo Javier, Hayden Joseph, Anoua Carrie and Kiara Flores. Pacifica/Garden Grove was second, and Mission Viejo was third. Overall, 70 schools participated in the two-day event, with Laguna clearly outdistancing the three other Sunset Wave League schools.
The Breakers were 15th, Fountain Valley finished 31st, Edison was 34th and Marina 57th. The league meet is Saturday, Oct. 28
SSCIF D4 Girls XCC Rankings for Oct. 16: 1 – JSerra, 2 – La Canada, 3 – Oaks Christian,4 – South Pasadena, 5 – Palos Verdes, 6 – Harvard-Westlake, 7 – Laguna Beach, 8 – Rim of the World, 9 – Fillmore, 10 – Orange Lutheran, 11 – Covina, 12 – Burroughs/Ridgecrest, 13 – Bishop Amat
The boys team finished fifth out of 18 teams in the Small School division won by Servite. Theodore Drews led the Breakers with a 16:18.2 time for the 3-mile course. Also scoring were Liam McRae, Mack Crain-Henning, Mason Bruderer and Zayd Kavur. Overall, for the meet, Laguna was 39th out of 74 teams, finishing third among the Sunset Wave League. Corona del Mar was 11th, Huntington Beach was 18 and Marina 45th. The Breakers must finish first or second in the league meet to advance to the SSCIF D-4 meet since they are not ranked in the SSCIF Poll.
For more information, visit the girls’ website at www.lbxc.org and the boys’ at www.lagunabeachcrosscountry.com.
GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL (2-11, 1-11)
Laguna lost to Huntington Beach 21-0 On Oct. 11 at the Oiler’s field. This past Monday, Edison defeated Laguna 28-6 on the Charger’s field. Laguna played Marina on Oct. 18, and the season concludes on Oct. 23 when they host the State’s #1 team – Newport Harbor.
GIRLS GOLF (2-9, 0-6):
On Wednesday Oct. 11, Edison defeated Laguna 193-261 at the Mile Square golf course in Fountain Valley, par 36, in the final dual match for the season. Chloe Lam from Edison earned medalist honors, posting a score of 33 (-3). The low score for Laguna was posted by Savannah Wald with a 48. Also scoring for the Breakers were Julianna Franconi-Krychman (49), Alani Sciacca (53), Spencer Anderson (55), and Luxy Bynum (56).
The Wave League individual tournament is set for Oct. 17 and 18.
GIRLS TENNIS (13-3, 4-0):
Laguna continues to roll through the Sunset Wave League and should easily capture their 28th league title in the 50 seasons of CIF sponsorship. League play will conclude with Marina on Oct. 19 and Newport on Oct. 27. Both games are at home.
Team playoff brackets will post on Monday, Oct. 30, with play beginning on Nov. 1.
Recent matches:
Oct. 12: Laguna 13 at Newport Harbor 5
The Breakers won their showdown with the Sailors with an easy win on the Tar’s courts. The MacCallum sisters swept their matches, with Jessica winning 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 and Rebecca taking her sets 6-0, 6-0, 6-1. The doubles team of Ava Chadha and Ryan Levine swept their sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.
Oct. 17: Laguna 15 at Edison 3
Laguna swept the singles with Jessica MacCallum winning 6-0, 6-0, 6-0; Ava Chadha also won in straight 6-0 sets, while Izzy LoBosco won 6-0, 6-2, 6-0. In doubles, the #1 team of Ryan Levine/Chloe Balliet won 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, and the #2 squad Rachael Jolley/Rebecca MacCallum won 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.
SSCIF D-2 Rankings for Oct. 16: 1 – Calabasas, 2 – Santa Barbara, 3 – Great Oak, 4 – Agoura, 5 – Temecula Valley, 6 – Laguna Beach, 7 – San Clemente, 8 – Orange Lutheran, 9 – Crescenta Valley, 10 – Crossroads Others: Dos Pueblos, Archer, Vista Murrieta.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL (7-21 3-3)
Laguna’s 2023 season came to a close with a tough 23-25, 23-25, 28-30 loss to Marina in a second-place playoff game played at Huntington Beach High School last Thursday, Oct. 12. The contest was required since the two teams tied for second place in the Sunset Wave League. Only one team can receive the automatic bid.
The Breakers were playing without their top hitter, Kyra Zaengle, who was prepping for the Laguna Open Volleyball Tournament that weekend. Laguna played well but just couldn’t finish. Meg Gardner was the lead hitter with 11 kills, while Ava Steris added 6, Ruby Piskun, 5 and Baylie Bina had 5 kills. Senior middle Sara Johnson, the all-time career blocker for Laguna, had some great serving runs, recording five aces. Coco Black passed very well on service receive, taking most initial passes and recording 15 digs. Morgan Saunders and Hayes Frith shared the setting each, with 15 assists. The Breakers return with a solid crew for next season led by Zaengle and had success in the lower levels, clearly showing the benefits of Leif Hanson’s Laguna Coast Volleyball program.
You can catch the video match highlights on the team’s Max Preps page.
BOYS SAND VOLLEYBALL (6-2, 3-2)
Breakers Host Sand Volleyball High School Championships on Friday, Oct. 20, at 2:30 p.m. at Main Beach
The event will feature 16 top teams, including Mira Costa.
Oct. 11 – Laguna Beach 4 Crean Lutheran 3 at Main Beach
#1 Kai Patchell/ Ryan Loughlin won 21-14, 21-6
#2 Chase Bryan/ Dylan Sirianni lost 20-22, 19-21
#3 Ryan Halloran/ Silas Richland won 21-15, 21-13
#4 Quinn Halloran/ Luke Singer won 21-10, 21-19
#5 Dylan Sweet/ Ben Rowan won 21-16, 21-16
The 4-man team lost to Crean 28-21
Next: League matches at 3:30 p.m. at Main Beach
Oct. 18 – Mater Dei
BOYS WATER POLO (14-10, 2-2)
Breakers Surprise Huntington in League Play
Max Schlaich scored with 34 seconds remaining to lift Laguna to a 13-12 Sunset Surf League win over highly ranked Huntington Beach (16-8, 2-2) on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the Oiler’s pool. The Breakers trailed 5-1 early in the second quarter and mounted a comeback on goals by Cade Anderton in the second period. Diego Audebert tied the game at 10 with 4:47 remaining in the final period, setting up the wild finish. Overall, Anderton had six goals, Audebert three, Schlaich two and single scores by Dylan Williams and Luke Harrison. The victory broke a 14-game losing streak to the Oilers dating back to 2018.
This past weekend, Laguna finished 12th in the 16-team North versus South Challenge, held in Atherton and Palo Alto. Laguna opened the weekend, losing 18-13 at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton in a Friday morning contest. Laguna trailed 9-7 at the intermission but could not close the gap with Northern California’s #1 team.
That afternoon at Gunn High School, the Breakers defeated Davis 15-12 in double overtime. Laguna took the lead in the third period and appeared in control but gave up two goals in the final two minutes of regulation to force the extra periods. Cade Anderton, Dylan Williams and Eli Taub scored in the extra time, while Tyler Swensen stopped the Blue Devils in the cage with an overtime shutout. Davis (19-4) is the top-ranked team from the Central Valley.
On Saturday, the Breakers dropped a close game to Mater Dei 14-11 in a game played at Gunn High School.
Laguna led early and battled back to trail 11-12 midway in the final period but could not get any closer to the Monarchs. In the nightcap, the Breakers were swamped 16-5 by Santa Margarita in a game at Gunn High School. Overall, JSerra won the tournament, defeating Newport Harbor 15-9 in the championship.
Scoring leaders after 24 games: 81 – Anderton, 66 – Audebert, 48 – Williams, 21 – Taub, 17 – Schlaich.
SSCIF D-1 Poll for Oct. 16: 1 – J Serra, 2 – Newport Harbor, 3 – Harvard-Westlake 4 – Oaks Christian, 5 – Corona del Mar, 6 – Loyola, 7 – Mater Dei, 8 – Huntington Beach, Santa Margarita, 10 – Laguna Beach
Next: The 60th regular season for boys water polo closes out with the final two league games – Breakers played Newport Harbor this past Wednesday at the Tar’s pool and will wrap up league play at Los Alamitos on Wednesday, Oct. 25. If the Breakers remain tied with Huntington Beach for second place, a playoff game may be held later next week to determine the official automatic entry to the playoffs with the loser considered for at-large placement.
SSCIF playoff brackets will be released on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. on the SSCIF website.
Water Polo will have an open division of the top eight schools, with the remaining schools placed in six divisions.
Breakers will be in Division 1, where, last season, they lost 6-5 to Foothill in the semifinals. Over the past 60 years, Laguna has made the finals six times with three titles, and 2023 will be their 40th appearance in the playoffs.
Have a note or question about Laguna sports? E-mail Frank at frank@twometer.net. Looking for the 2023-24 High School schedules and scores? Check Laguna Beach High School on the Max Preps website.