Mt. Carmel rallies from 20-point halftime deficit, stuns La Jolla Country Day

by Tim Meehan

Whatever was spoken in the Mt. Carmel locker room at halftime against La Jolla Country Day was hopefully recorded for posterity.

Down 20-0 at the break, the Sundevils scored 27 unanswered points and finished with an inspired come-from-behind final drive, resulting in a 34-27 win over the visiting Torreys.

“I really said we should be losing by more,” Mt. Carmel coach Drew Westling said. “We had so many turnovers. Our defense bailed us out holding them to field goals. Good halftime speech. Bad pregame speech.”

Senior quarterback Trevor Taumoepeau shook off a slow start to finish 24 of 32 for 167 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran 14 times for 74 yards and a 7-yard score.

His 16-yard toss to senior wideout Connor Gibbons in the corner of the end zone after faking the safety out with 18 seconds left showed the poise under pressure the Sundevils (2-0) are used to.

“We’re just resilient,” Taumoepeau said. “We have a lot of young guys on our team, but a lot of guys stepped up and we have to trust in them to make plays. We got a lot of fight in us, and I think we can go a long way.”

La Jolla Country Day was led by quarterback Jett Astephen’s strong arm. He completed 28 of 55 pass attempts for 261 yards and two touchdowns. He completed passes to seven different Torreys receivers, led by Quentin Cesaire’s 10 catches for 98 yards. Hesh Hertz added seven catches, including a 44-yard scamper as he broke tackle after tackle to tie it at 27.

The Torreys (1-1) jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead and appeared poised to finish the night early.

The Torreys’ first half drives began with the following locations: their own 49, MC’s 48, MC’s 31, MC’s 11, MC’s 26, their own 37 and their own 47.

The Sundevils got on the board first in the second quarter with a short field of their own. Starting at the 48, they seemed to throw every play in the book on the drive, resulting in a Jackson Hanlon 7-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Taumoepeau.

Mt. Carmel followed it right up with an impressive no-huddle drive that ended with Nate Donohue’s 1-yard scamper that capped off an eight-play, 73-yard drive. The defense had two interceptions and forced two turnovers on downs.

A turnover on downs on the Torreys’ next drive gave the Sundevils life again. Nine plays later, the game was tied when Donohue ran it in from four yards out.

A fumbled snap on the PAT meant the game remained tied.

The Sundevils forced a punt on the next drive and got the ball at the Torreys’ 44-yard line. Six plays later, they had the lead after Taumoepeau’s 7-yard scamper.

“We got the ball, scored and got into a rhythm,” Westling said.