HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP

In other nonleague games:

Torrey Pines 27, USDHS 3--Torrey Pines opened its season with inexperienced linemen and a Ryan Lynch getting his first varsity start at quarterback. It showed during the first half.

But the Falcons scored 21 second-half points to win in front of about 4,000 at Falcon Field.

Three of Torrey Pines’ first four drives produced negative yardage. The Falcons had only two first downs in the first half. But occasionally they advanced the ball--usually when running back Joel Brown got his hands on it.

Brown, who finished with 122 yards on eight carries, set up Torrey Pines’ first touchdown with a 31-yard run, which gave the Falcons a 6-0 lead at halftime.

He added a 21-yard run that led to his five-yard score to make it 13-3 in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Brown broke loose for 59 yards to set up Josh Stern’s one-yard plunge.

But Brown and his fellow backs were usually hammered for losses or short gains until Lynch and the Falcon line settled down.

“We just had to take care of some blocking adjustments at halftime,” said Lynch, who started at safety last year. “This game is the most nervous I’ve been. And give (USDHS) credit, they hit harder than I’ve ever been hit.”

USDHS, although losing at halftime, was more successful at moving the ball in the first half. But a nine-yard punt after its second drive gave Torrey Pines the ball on the Dons’ 41-yard line. Then came two perfectly executed plays: a 31-yard double reverse from Bret Marshall to Brown that set up Lynch’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Campbell.

The USDHS offense never got across the 50 in the first half, however, and it took a third-quarter fumble to aid in its only score, a 27-yard field goal by Ben Wood. Wood’s kick came after the Dons had drives stall at the Falcon 19- and 10-yard lines.

On the ensuing Torrey Pines drive, Brown got free for 21 yards on third and 15. Stern gained 17, and Lynch hit Campbell for 22 yards on the same play that produced the first score. Brown then scored on the five-yard sweep, capping a 77-yard drive.

After Lynch missed a 42-yard field-goal attempt, the Falcons put together their a four-play, 79-yard drive that produced their first of two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Brown’s 59-yard run keyed it. Later, after USDHS couldn’t convert on fourth down deep in its territory, Torrey Pines marched 27 yards, with Marshall capping it on a seven-yard sweep.

“I think we got tired,” said USDHS Coach Ron Hamamoto. “We just ran out of gas. I thought it was a heck of a game for 2 1/2 quarters.”