Athletics
Jaguar Athletics
New Starters Step Up in a Close Loss
de Toledo comes up close against AGBU for the second time in a week-span
Boys Varsity Flag Football (1-3)
de Toledo 7 - AGBU 12
The Jaguars and Titans played to an identical result from the game last Thursday, with de Toledo coming up less than a touchdown shy of winning the away contest. The only difference in this game is that the tale of the first half flipped, with the Jaguars taking control of the opening half with a seven-point lead at the break. After both teams stalled on their opening drives of the game, de Toledo broke the stalemate with a methodical drive down the field. Jake Silver, starting at running back for his first time, caught a quick dump pass from Yarden Leshem and turned the ball upfield for a 20-yard game that sparked the offense. Later in the drive, Leshem found Evan Rose in the middle-back of the end zone for his team-leading fourth touchdown of the season. Silver then found an opening in the defense on the extra point for the touchdown lead. As AGBU was pushing downfield just before the end of the first half, Ryan Koeppel made a quick read on a pass and stole it out of midair, killing any momentum that may have been momentarily on the Titans’ side.
The second half played out differently, as many of the usual contributors for the Jaguars were plagued by injury. This gave the backup players an opportunity to shine against a team that was playing the game unscathed. The Jaguars, despite this uphill battle, matched AGBU for much of the second half. The Titans set up both of their second half touchdowns with long plays, one on a contested pass and one on a missed flag pull. Even though de Toledo was shut out 12-0 in the second half, they played up to the competition and never looked outmatched on the field.
In a makeshift defensive line, first-time starter Eytan Azami made quite an impression on the coaches and his teammates, consistently getting into the backfield and pressuring the quarterback into making inaccurate throws. Azami finished the game with five pulls, including three behind the line of scrimmage, and two sacks. The Jaguar offensive line only saw one of their usual starters begin the game, who later had to be subbed out for the entire second half. However, substitute linemen Noah Burman, Eden Salpeter, Daniel Lotwin, and Ethan Minkow held strong against an aggressive pass rush by creating open pockets for Leshem.
The Jaguars will look to turn the close losses into wins, starting with a game against YULA, the team de Toledo defeated in the Coastal League Championship last season.
Located in the San Fernando Valley portion of the City of Los Angeles in Northern Los Angeles County. de Toledo High School is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and Builders of Jewish Education (BJE,) and financially supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Jim Joseph Foundation.
