Victory Over Harvard Junior Varsity Duly Recorded on L.A. Baptist Ledger

When is a varsity football game not a varsity football game?

That question was knocked around the Southern Section office this weekend after L. A. Baptist’s varsity had defeated a Harvard team Saturday morning that was composed primarily of junior varsity players.

For the record, L. A. Baptist won, 34-20. But was it for the record?

Yes, according to Southern Section spokesman Scott Cathcart.

“It counts as a win,” Cathcart affirmed. “It will be noted in the logs that, technically, they played a JV team, but it still counts as a win for their varsity.”

The rare occurrence of a game pitting a junior varsity team against a varsity team was caused by a scheduling misunderstanding between the schools. L. A. Baptist Coach Mark Bates claims that this year was to be the second of a two-year contract between the teams. But Harvard Coach Gary Thran later scheduled a game against La Canada High on the same date. He admitted that he was at fault.

“It was my error,” Thran said. “We had a verbal one-year contract and then they sent me a two-year contract which I signed without reading.”

Harvard played La Canada on Friday, lowering its record to 0-4 with a 24-14 loss. The junior varsity also lost, a day later to L.A. Baptist, which is now 3-1. But the win could hurt the Knights before the season ends.

“If L. A. Baptist is considered for an at-large playoff berth, it will be noted that one of their wins came against a JV team,” Cathcart said.

Bates’ reaction?

“I’m just sort of glad to get the whole thing over with,” he said.