LA JOLLA – Bishop’s football coach Shane Walton’s squad suffered a lot of injuries to his senior corps, so they were forced to employ sophomores and freshmen in their place, and so far, so good.

“We started off the year with a very veteran team,” says the long-time coach, “but we had a lot of injuries, so we had to start [underclassmen]. They’re making mistakes, which is normal. They should be on the JV team.”

Two surprises are linemen, Isaac Smedra and Cayden Watkins.

“He leads the team in knockdowns and pancake blocks,” says Race Paris of Watkins, a senior moved next to them at left tackle.

Playing at left guard, Watkins says: “I’m a freshman playing on the offensive line against juniors and seniors, so I’m usually not stronger. I have to use technique and strength to beat them.

“In pass-blocking, I do snatch-blocking, which means chopping their arms (pushing the opponent’s arms down). In run-blocking, Isaac at center and I are double-teaming, getting the guy down.”

Are you surprised you’re starting as a freshman? “Yeah, that was a shock,” the friendly Watkins says. “I felt I had the ability to start, but I was surprised when I put in there when others got injured.”

Another pleasant surprise is quarterback Amaree Maye, 6 foot 4 inches tall and still apparently growing at 16 years old with a wiry build at 160 pounds. He stands out at practice, where he is one of the tallest in uniform.

Walton is known for developing young quarterbacks, like Cash Herrera, who started for three years for the Knights. Walton encourages Maye to “not think” — when he thinks and doesn’t get into a flow, he makes mistakes.

“When Amaree believes in himself, he’s really special,” is how Walton expresses it.

Maye nods in agreement. “Sometimes I get down on myself,” he says. “When I stop thinking about the game and doing what I do naturally, we start moving down the field.”

Walton says the Knights ran a spread when junior Jackson Binn started and was healthy the first three games, but once he got injured, Bishop’s has gone to a mix of spread offense, zone-read, and a two-back setup.

Maye, in his eight games played as of Oct. 20, has completed 55 of 95 passes for 661 yards, seven touchdowns, and four interceptions. His quarterback rating is a respectable 86.3.

“We’ve trailed in every game he’s played,” says Walton. “I told him, ‘You don’t have to wait until the second half to play well.’ When he doesn’t have to think, he plays phenomenal. Go have fun.”

At this writing, the results have been pretty good: a 6-2 record overall, and 2-0 in the Coastal Conference. The Knights play in Div. 4, which promises a lot of opportunities in the playoffs beginning on Nov. 6.

“Cayden has absolutely stepped up,” Paris says. “Against Maranatha Christian on Oct. 16 (a 23-19 win), we studied a lot of their tendencies. We studied a lot of videos and the coaches give us tendency sheets.”