The names involved in Saturday’s Battle at the Beach 7 on 7 passing tournament hosted by Edison High School in Huntington Beach read like a Who’s Who in recent national rankings — Corona Centennial, Mater Dei, St. John Bosco to name a few. However, in the end, it was a team from the Los Angeles City Section, not one from the powerful PAC-5 CIF-Southern Section, that claimed the championship.
Narbonne, which did break into many national rankings, including ours in 2012, defeated Los Alamitos 30-6 in the championship game of the 20 team tournament. The Gauchos, led by head coach Manny Douglas, have won three of the last four LA City Section Division 1 titles, however, they’ve never performed as well at the Beach as they did on Saturday.
The Gauchos, who have 19 players back from last year, including senior quarterback Roman Ale, beat Mater Dei in the quarterfinals 20-14 in overtime and then shutout St. John Bosco 12-0 in the semis.
2015 Battle Of The Beach passing champions!! #narbonnefootball pic.twitter.com/BdCg0Utfk8
— Narbonne Football (@bonnefootball) July 11, 2015
Mater Dei entered the tournament already having won two big SoCal events — the Air Strike at Dana Hills and the Gunslinger at San Juan Hills.
Narbonne’s only loss on the day was in pool play to host Edison.
