Three ex-Cathedral players make their high school football debuts in North Carolina

Junior quarterback Lucas Lenhoff, the starter at L.A. Cathedral High last season, passed for three touchdowns last week to help Charlotte (N.C.) Myers Park open its football season with a 49-0 victory.

And it wasn't just one former Cathedral player helping Myers Park defeat Charlotte Garinger. Receiver Isaac Hill had 105 yards receiving and Cam Thornton was another contributor. All three are juniors and were enrolled at Cathedral until moving to North Carolina. Two other former Cathedral players left with them for a total of five.

"I hate to see them go, but I understand," Cathedral coach Anthony Jefferson said. "The problem was California was in limbo for so long."

Only last month the California Department of Public Health gave clearance for football to be played when a county's adjusted new daily COVID-19 case rate dropped below 14.0 per 100,000 residents. Los Angeles County reached that last week, clearing the way for the Phantoms to have a season.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Lenhoff and friends have a head start on Cathedral and are making new friends.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.