HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- Fresh from their respective stints at the Elite 11 in Oregon earlier in the week, there was still one more competition to be had between St. John Bosco quarterback Josh Rosen and his Hart counterpart Brady White.
Their teams went head-to-head in the finals of the Battle at the Beach passing tournament at Huntington Beach Edison High School.
Taking on the underdog mantra, it was White's Indians jumping out to a 12-0 lead and holding on to defeat Rosen's Braves, 19-13.
"We were David, they were Goliath and we took them out with the stone," White said.
Hart had their eyes on the reigning national champions all day. Playing on adjacent fields during various parts of the tournament, it was hard not to notice what the Braves were accomplishing -- especially on the defensive end. Through four games the Braves defense surrendered just 13 points, total. No small feat in a passing tournament.
"We were watching them play Valencia -- one of our rivals -- and (they) threw a ball across the middle and the (St. John Bosco) linebacker picked it off one-handed, so that was impressive," said Hart wide receiver Trent Irwin. "We were like 'Dang!' It's a little intimidating but we came out to play."
Hello @HartHigh... #ForksUp QB commit Brady White with a TD pass to Trent Irwin at #TheOpening pool play.
— Gerry Hamilton (@HamiltonESPN) July 9, 2014
Once it was Hart's chance to take on the Braves they played with a resolve of champions which they are having won the Northern Division a season ago and finishing up the 7-on-7 slate as winners of all three tournaments they appeared in at full strength.
Such success could propel the team into fall camp and into the 2014 season.
"You always want the kids to compete even if it's 7-on-7 and it's not real football, they still have to compete to win," head coach Mike Herrington said. "It's like anything, you want them to have a competitive edge.
"When we had our good teams in the past, we've done well in 7-on-7 and done well in the season too. Very rarely have we had a great 7-on-7 team did poor in the regular season."
As for Rosen and White, both admitted they enjoyed competing once again against one another. Of course, it was especially sweet for White after his team came out on top.
"It's definitely fun to compete with him and for our teams to get after it and take down the big name guys," White said.
