The Segerstrom Jaguars varsity football squad from Santa Ana left “the Jungle” and was met by a 100-foot wave in Laguna Beach, losing 22-41 to our Breakers.  

Sophomore Jackson Kollock, a quarterback who transferred from Rancho Santa Margarita High, led LB with 5 passing touchdowns, a 154.5 passer rating (158.3 is the highest possible), 263 yards through the air, and an 18 for 23 pass completion. Oh, and a rushing touchdown. It was his first game for the Breakers as he was forced to sit out by CIF the first 6 games due to a transferring rule. 

“Kollock has done the most with his time waiting for his opportunity to show what he can do. He’s been every bit of a good teammate that you can ask for,” said coach Alex Hutchison, the head coach of the frosh/soph team and the running backs coach for varsity.

It was obvious that Kollock would make a big difference on Friday, and that is exactly what he did. On his first pass of the game, living up to the hype, he completed a 59-yard pass to senior Jackson Rodriguez for a touchdown.  

Rodriguez was more than happy to be on the receiving end of that amazing play. 

“It was a feeling like no other,” said Rodriguez. “It was an uncontrollable amount of joy and adrenaline. Seeing Kollock on the sideline after the catch was the best because he and I worked so hard for that very moment, and it all paid off.”

Due to the starting kicker getting injured, Rodriguez played not only as a receiver and defensive back but also as the kicker. He handled the PATs (point after touchdown), field goals, kickoffs, and punts—so yeah, Rodriguez does it all. 

“Scoring touchdowns and kicking PATs can be tiring later in the game,” said Jackson. “Normally, it isn’t a challenge because of all the adrenaline in the game, but on some occasions, it is difficult due to soreness and fatigue. Another thing that makes it difficult is the fact that I want to celebrate my touchdowns, and I have to wait until after we kick the ball off.” 

Kollock and Rodriguez weren’t the only big performers at Guyer Field for the Homecoming game, with junior running back Nick Rogers rushing for 101 yards on 7 carries, and 46 of those yards were on one run. Rogers received 3 catches for 34 yards and a touchdown. Not too shabby. The other receivers who rounded out Kollock’s 5 passing touchdowns included senior Aidan Mulkay, senior Myles Freeman and junior Brock Donaldson. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that’s some pretty good passing variety. 

On another note, but still, a very big deal, the team’s very own Jeremy Kanter was announced as this year’s Homecoming King at halftime, and the Queen was none other than Lily Gabora. Kanter, #22, is a linebacker and running back. After the halftime show, he and Gabora were crowned, and the crowd went wild. Pretty cool to be up so much at halftime and then see one of the players be named King. Coach Hutchison said even the team was celebrating Jeremy in the locker room instead of crazy game-planning, as the Breakers had a comfortable lead at the half. Congratulations to both Jeremy and Lily.

After overseeing many teams over the course of a career, a coach is often asked to reflect upon how an individual game ranks among previous memorable matches.

“It’s up there,” said head coach John Shanahan. “Getting a lot of players back and having a football player win King was great for the energy.” 

Defensively, the team held the fierce Jaguars to 22 points. The Breakers even forced an interception, caught by senior Gavin Zaengle. 

Junior Marcus Heins, a linebacker, recovered a fumble, blocked a punt, and then recovered the punt, having an awesome defensive night. Marcus now owns the first blocked punt of the year for the Breakers. 

“I thought it would be closer. Segerstrom is a well-coached physical team, so we are very proud of this win,” said Shanahan, who was impressed with the defensive and offensive efforts of his team, resulting in a 3-possession (19-point) victory. 

Well, that was an amazing Homecoming game, and we are so proud of our team. Go Breakers! 

Click here to read more about our 2022 Homecoming King and Queen!