With Salaam Out, Abrams Lifts LJCD

La Jolla Country Day captured its third consecutive Coastal League eight-man football championship with a 38-34 victory at Santa Fe Christian Saturday, but the title carried a heavy price.

Running back Rashaan Salaam suffered what Coach Rick Woods said was a possible sprained ligament in his left knee and could be lost for the remainder of the season.

Salaam, a senior averaging 215.4 yards a game, had 56 yards on nine carries and a 14-yard touchdown run Saturday when he was injured with eight minutes left in the second quarter.

LJCD (8-0) got a big game out of Daniel Sparling and Eric Abrams. Sparling completed 10 of 21 passes for 194 yards and threw touchdown passes of 53 and 45 yards to Larry Cheng. Abrams kicked three field goals, of 53, 32 and 20 yards. The first matched his career best and is third-longest in section history, and the last two allowed LJCD to overcome a 34-32 fourth-quarter deficit.