High School Football Roundup: Bishop’s and Country Day open season with victories

The 2025 high school football season began Aug. 22 for all of La Jolla’s teams, and the results were good for two out of the three.

Bishop’s 41, Valley Center 28

The Knights opened the season with a victory on the road over the Jaguars.

Bishop’s jumped to a 28-7 lead in the first half, held off a Valley Center comeback attempt that shrunk the lead to eight points in the third quarter and then opened up the advantage to 41-20 before cruising to the 41-28 final.

Senior quarterback Cash Herrera threw three touchdown passes for the Knights.

The Jaguars’ Mitch Stehly rushed for 141 yards and two TDs on just 12 carries.

Next up for Bishop’s is the home opener vs. Christian of El Cajon (1-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, on the La Jolla High School field.

About Herrera: Cash is his given name. His father liked Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay, but his mother wasn’t keen on naming their son Cassius. Cash it was.

Bishop’s coach Shane Walton said the 6-3, 213-pound Herrera is “the hardest worker on the team, yet he’s one of the most humble kids I’ve ever coached. He’s the best but never acts like it. And he has a frickin’ arm. If he’s throwing into the wind, it doesn’t matter. He rips the ball. When he’s throwing a 60-yard fade, it looks like a handoff. He’s phenomenal. I love that kid.”

Herrera first worked with a private quarterback coach when he was 6 years old, studying under former Orange Glen (Escondido) High School and San Diego State quarterback Cree Morris. Eleven years later, he still works regularly with Morris and Jose Mohler of San Diego’s West Coast Athletix.

Herrera weighed 178 pounds as a sophomore, bumped up to 190 as a junior and now weighs 213, thanks to lifting weights four times a week with his school’s strength coach. That and the school’s nutrition options — salmon, chicken, steak, Greek food and pasta, he said.

The past two seasons, Herrera completed 64% of his passes for 2,984 yards and a 39-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Though other quarterbacks at larger schools may be better known than Herrera, Walton said college coaches from Alabama and Georgia, and even Chip Kelly, now the Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive coordinator, watched Herrera throw and said “This guy, he’s different. He spins it. He’s pretty special.”

Herrera has verbally committed to Indiana University after high school.

He lives in Escondido and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the La Jolla campus on time. He practices drop-backs in front of a mirror to ensure his footwork is precise.

Bishop’s wide receiver Nick Pfister said “I’ve trained with probably the top 10 quarterbacks in California. The way he throws the ball is pretty incredible. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts as a freshman at Indiana. He’s going to surprise some people.”

Torrey Pines 43, La Jolla High 19

Visiting La Jolla’s combination of quarterback Hudson Smith and Carson Diehl was in midseason form as Smith finished 19-of-28 for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Diehl was his favorite target, hauling in 11 catches for 161 yards and a 69-yard score.

Smith also connected with sophomore wide receiver Aiden Farrell, who broke free from would-be tacklers around midfield and raced for a 60-yard TD.

However, Torrey Pines’ rushing attack of Sonny Villegas and Dominic Rocha combined for 181 yards on 29 carries — including three touchdown runs from Rocha — in a dominating performance.

On defense, the Falcons notched three sacks and caused three turnovers.

The Vikings will try to rebound in their home opener at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, against Patrick Henry (0-1).

La Jolla Country Day 30, Chula Vista 21

The Torreys got off to a good start with a victory on the road over the Spartans.

But it wasn’t as easy as it might appear.

Country Day trailed 13-9 early in the fourth quarter before Torreys junior running back Keenan Ward took over, rushing for three touchdowns in roughly three minutes.

After he ran for a 40-yard TD to give Country Day a 16-13 lead, the Torreys converted a successful onside kick to get the ball back. Ward completed the subsequent possession with a 15-yard rushing touchdown to make it 23-13. He scored again shortly afterward on a 3-yard carry and had another key run later.

The Torreys will return to the road at Mount Carmel (1-0) at 7 p.m. Aug. 29.