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.

As a junior, Taumoepeau averaged 364 yards of total offense.

Mt. Carmel head coach Drew Westling said, “He’s really, really good.”

On the sideline, waiting for Taumoepeau to leave the field, Mt. Carmel backup quarterback Kelle Leuck overshot his target on his first warmup throw. But when he took 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, along with running for a touchdown, leading Mt. Carmel to a 35-21 victory 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 disappointed because he’s a great kid. But we weren’t worried about Kelle. I told the kids at halftime, ‘If any of you guys are worried about Kelle, he’s going to be a professional baseball player. He’s a great pitcher. He’s not upset at all.'”

Leuck, who is 6-foot-4 and starts at safety on defense, was sharp from the start. He finished the first half 5-of-5 passing for 87 yards, leading the Sundevils to two touchdowns 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 better that way,” Westling said. “You don’t have the pressure all week of thinking about starting.”

This was exactly Leuck’s attitude.

“I don’t have time to think,” he said. “I trust the process, I know my guys are going to be there for me. My thing is, every time I play, it’s just another game. I have to do my best and perform on the field.”

Leuck was helped by a sluggish ground game. Before the game, Mt. Carmel was counting on Taumoepeau. He had thrown for 880 yards in three games and led the Sundevils with 137 yards. The leading 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.

On the San Diego side, the Cavers are very young, led by freshman quarterback Jayden Harris and sophomore running back Jayden Johnson. Johnson ran for 113 yards on 15 carries. Harris completed 12 of 19 passes for 139 yards and a TD. He was intercepted once.

Westling left the field impressed by Harris, particularly a deep 40-yard TD pass to Jayden Wade.

“He’s taking ninth-grade algebra and he threw a college-level TD. He’s going to be really good,” Westling said of Harris.

Mount Carmel 35, San Diego High 21

San Diego 14 0 0 7 — 21

Mount Carmel 7 14 6 8 — 35

SD — Wade 40 pass from Harris (Morales kick)

MC — Taumoepeau 1 run (Adams kick)

SD — Garcia recovered a fumble in the end zone (Morales kick)

MC — Medlock Run 10 (Adams Kick)

MC — Leuck 1 run (Adams kick)

MC — Carter 2 run (failed to pass)

MC — ValeCruz 5 pass from Leuck (Abrena race)

SD — Wilson 3 points (Morales kick)