The Cathedral Catholic Dons varsity football team gained a 24-10 win against the Liberty High School Patriots last Friday in Bakersfield, California.

The Dons left Cathedral Catholic High School at 7:30 a.m. Friday morning and took a five hour bus drive up California to play a game.

“I felt like the drive would be an adventure, I felt like it would be fun to go a place outside our usual conference and play a new team,” #72 Hayden Center said. “It feels great to win again, because if we hadn’t had won, it would have been [a long] five hour drive back to San Diego.”

The first quarter started out rough, with a sack against the Dons, and a fumble recovered by Liberty with a 40 yard run shortly after the recovery. The Dons, however, turned up the intensity and got a sack at 15 yards, and an interception immediately after the sack. At the end of the first quarter the score was 0-0.

The second quarter had a great start for the Dons, with an interception by the Dons five seconds into the quarter. It was a tug-of-war battle throughout the quarter, the ball going back and forth between the teams, until a fumble was recovered by # 61 Liam Brady, allowing the Dons to score a touchdown. At the end of the half, the score was 10-0, Cathedral in the lead.

The third quarter had more back and forth, however Liberty started the second half with a 3 point field goal and then an interception by the Dons. The team dug deep and scored in the fourth quarter.

The final quarter started out with an unfair tackle against Liberty, resulting in a fifteen yard penalty. Shortly after, Tate Haynes threw a pass to number #28 Hogan Irwin for a twenty five yard touchdown.

After the Dons kickoff, Patriots threw a pass, but the receiver fumbled the ball and it was picked up #19 Kaile Walter to score another touchdown.

Liberty must’ve kicked in the reserves because 3 plays after the Dons kickoff, they scored a touchdown with a 45 yard run. It was not enough to pull away the win though; the Dons won 24-10.

“I thought defensively we just stuffed them and it feels good to win again, the team deserved this one,” #63 Owen Duvall said.

Next Friday the Dons take on the Eastlake Titans in Manchester stadium for a big Homecoming game.