When Mt. Carmel High School quarterback Trevor Taumoepeau was carted off the field with a left leg injury midway through the second quarter Friday night against San Diego High, Sundevils everywhere held their breath.
A junior, Taumoepeau came in averaging 364 yards in total offense.
Said Mt. Carmel head coach Drew Westling: “He’s really, really good.”
On the sideline, waiting for Taumoepeau to leave the field, Mt. Carmel backup quarterback Kelle Leuck overthrew his intended his target on his first warmup toss. But when he stepped on the field for live action, Leuck (pronounced Luke) was like Cool Hand Luke. Calm as a cucumber.
Leuck completed 15 of 19 passes for 166 yards and a TD, plus rushed for a score, leading Mt. Carmel to a Homecoming 35-21 win over the Cavers. Mt. Carmel improved to 4-0 while San Diego (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season.
Regarding his reaction when Taumoepeau went down, Westling said: “You’re so bummed because he’s such a great kid.. But we weren’t worried about Kelle. I told the kids at halftime, ‘If any of you are worried about Kelle, he’s going to be a professional baseball player. He’s a great pitcher. He’s not fazed at all.’”
The 6-foot-4 Leuck, who starts at safety on defense, was sharp from the start. He finished the first half 5-for-5 for 87 yards, leading the Sundevils to two TDs and a 21-14 halftime lead.
Westling is a former backup quarterback at San Diego State. He knows what it’s like to come off the bench.
“Sometimes it’s best that way,” said Westling. “You don’t have the pressure all week of thinking about starting.”
That was exactly Leuck’s attitude.
“You have no time to think,” he said. “You trust the process, knowing my guys will be there for me. My thing is, any time you play, it’s just another game. I’ve got to do my best and perform out there.”
Leuck was helped by a punishing ground game. Coming into the game, Mt. Carmel had been heavily reliant on Taumoepeau. He had thrown for 880 yards in three games and was the Sundevils’ leading rusher with 137 yards. The top running back had just 44 yards.
But against San Diego, Mt. Carmel nearly produced two 100-yard rushers. Carter gained 107 yards on 17 carries, and sophomore Mason Medlock added 97 yards on 10 carries. Both scored touchdowns.
As for San Diego, the Cavers are very young, led by freshman quarterback Jayden Harris and sophomore running back Jayden Johnson. Johnson rushed for 113 yards on 15 carries. Harris completed 12 of 19 passes for 139 yards and a TD. He was intercepted once.
Westling walked off the field impressed with Harris, particularly a 40-yard, on-the-money deep pass for a TD to Jayden Wade.
Said Westling of Harris, “He’s taking ninth-grade Algebra and he threw a college-level throw for the TD. He’s going to be real good.”
Mt. Carmel 35, San Diego High 21
San Diego 14 0 0 7 — 21
Mt. Carmel 7 14 6 8 — 35
SD — Wade 40 pass from Harris (Morales kick)
MC — Taumoepeau 1 run (Adams kick)
SD — Garcia recovered fumble in end zone (Morales kick)
MC — Medlock 10 run (Adams kick)
MC — Leuck 1 run (Adams kick)
MC — Carter 2 run (pass failed)
MC — ValeCruz 5 pass from Leuck (Abrena run)
SD — Wilson 3 run (Morales kick)