SAN MARCOS ---- The Mission Hills High and Torrey Pines defensive units each brought their lunch pails to Jack Ashby Field on Friday as the Avocado League football rivals slugged it out toe-to-toe all night.
Carlos Hernandez then stepped up and won the game for the Grizzlies.
Hernandez kicked a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter and added a 29-yarder with 2:59 left in the game, breaking a 7-7 halftime tie and lifting Mission Hills to a hard-fought 13-7 victory.
"Tonight belonged to the defense," said Mission Hills coach Chris Hauser.
On a night in which Grizzlies senior running back Chad Dobbins pounded out 104 tough yards on 32 carries, it was indeed the defense that wore down what offense Torrey Pines (3-4, 0-1-1) could muster.
Mission Hills (5-2, 1-1) limited the visitors to six first downs, 73 yards rushing and 41 yards passing. The Grizzlies kept the pressure on Torrey Pines quarterback John Cabot all night, then ratcheted it up late in the game when the Falcons still had an opportunity to win it with a touchdown and PAT kick.
Led by linebacker Daniel Fernandez and down linemen Alex Dillon and Erik Aunese, the Mission Hills defense sacked Cabot for the fourth, fifth and sixth time in the final 2 1/2 minutes, and Aunese iced the victory by breaking up Cabot's final pass downfield, which was intended for Ryan Rodas on a fourth-and-long situation.
"We got our big-play defense back tonight," Hauser said. "It was something we haven't had since the Tesoro game, which was our opener, and it was a good thing to see."
Torrey Pines' defense made a series of big plays of its own in the first half, when safety Hunter Shigley intercepted two passes, one in the end zone on a halfback pass by Dobbins, and linebacker Kevin Cuff contributed a sack and an interception to end an early Mission Hills drive into Falcons territory.
"I think both defenses played very well," said Torrey Pines coach Scott Ashby.
"Mission Hills and Torrey Pines have both long been known for their defenses. It was a typical matchup between these two teams. There was a lot of extremely hard hitting going on out there."
The Grizzlies broke a scoreless tie with 5:40 left in the first half when Hunter Moore (152 yards passing on 11-of-17 completions and 63 yards rushing on eight carries) ran 10 yards for a touchdown on a quarterback draw. That followed a Johnny Ludlow fumble recovery at the Torrey Pines 24-yard line and four straight carries by Dobbins.
The Falcons answered back on John Wilson's 36-yard touchdown run and Blake Busse's PAT with 2:42 remaining in the half to tie the game at 7-7. Bassim El Sabawi ran 11 yards and Cabot hooked up with Parker Vail on a 16-yard pass play on what turned out to be a 70-yard drive.
