Bishop’s shines in football and field hockey; La Jolla High boys water polo reaches top 10 in national rankings – San Diego Union-Tribune

A flurry of important games last week for high football, water polo and field hockey in La Jolla saw tight scores, top matchups and league openers.

Football

Bishop’s 45, Army-Navy 14

With La Jolla High and La Jolla Country Day in bye weeks, Bishop’s traveled to Army-Navy Academy in Carlsbad for its first Coastal League football game this season.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Knights found their rhythm and dominated the second half, handling the Warriors (4-1) their first loss of the season.

Bishop’s senior running back Ruben Gutierrez rallied the offense with two touchdowns, contributing to the Knights’ 214 total rushing yards.

Senior Ian Browne, a Brown University commit, had a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown and senior Kiran Dhupa returned an interception 82 yards for a score.

“Getting our first league win felt good,” Dhupa said. “We started out slow, but we were able to turn it up in the second half and we really pulled away.

“Our main goal every year is to win league, and to win the first league game is huge. “We still have big matches coming up, but it felt great to win the first one.”

Bishop’s (2-2) next hosts Francis Parker (3-2) at 7 pm Friday, Oct. 4, in the Knights’ homecoming game.

More upcoming games: Country Day (3-2) opens its Coastal League schedule at Santa Fe Christian (4-1) at 3 pm Oct. 4, and La Jolla (4-1) travels to Scripps Ranch (5-0) for an Eastern League showdown at 7 pm the same day.

water polo

La Jolla High 12, Coronado 4

After winning the America’s Finest City Tournament in boys water polo the week before, La Jolla traveled to Coronado for a dominant victory.

Reflecting on recent games, La Jolla head coach Tom Atwell said junior Tor Martin has been playing “exceptionally well,” leading the team in goals.

The Vikings moved up to No. 10 in MaxPreps’ national water polo rankings and No. 7 in California.

La Jolla (16-3) next plays at home against Cathedral Catholic (8-2) at 4 pm Wednesday, Oct. 2.

Cathedral Catholic 16, Bishop’s 10

Bishop’s faced off at home against Cathedral Catholic in a rematch of the 2023 CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship game, which the Dons won 12-11.

This time, junior Max Arnold led the Dons with four goals.

The Knights (6-5) aim to recover on the road against Coronado (4-11) at 4 pm Oct. 2.

field hockey

Bishop’s 2, La Jolla 0

A month after La Jolla beat Bishop’s in the annual “Battle of Pearl Street” football game, another version of the rivalry took place in a girls field hockey matchup Sept. 25 between the Bishop’s Knights, top-ranked in MaxPreps’ CIF San Diego Section listings, and the fourth-ranked La Jolla Vikings.

Bishop’s came out with the win in a tight battle, retaining its No. 1 ranking and improving its record at the time to 8-0.

“It was a really big game considering the Battle of Pearl Street and all the pressure around that,” said Bishop’s senior and team captain Adelaide Kessler. “I think the whole team really stepped up to that pressure and executed.”

The Knights, who are having their strongest field hockey season in years, moved to No. 3 in the nation and stayed No. 1 in California in MaxPreps’ rankings released Sept. 26.

“It’s definitely a big responsibility to be doing so well as No. 1 in the county, because everybody wants to knock you out of that spot,” Kessler said. “I think we did a really good job holding our composure. Looking ahead, we want to keep that title. “We have great team chemistry, and I think the wins come from all of us and the coaches.”

Cathedral Catholic 2, Bishop’s 1

However, over the weekend, after winning four games by shutout en route to the finals of a tournament, Bishop’s suffered its first loss of the season to second-ranked Cathedral Catholic on Sept. 28, jeopardizing the Knights’ top spot in the rankings, which will be updated this week.

Bishop’s (12-1) has an immediate chance at revenge against the Dons (14-0) in a rematch at Cathedral Catholic at 4 pm Oct. 2.

More upcoming games: Country Day (10-4), which did not play last week, travels to Point Loma (5-2) at 4 pm Oct. 2 to try to protect its unblemished league record, while La Jolla (5-2) hosts Scripps Ranch (10-3) at 4 pm the same day.