Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
Although the Holy Bowl brings out the fire in both teams, sportsmanships always carries the day. SAHS topped CCHS 35-21 in this year’s contest at Manchester Stadium.
October 26, 2015
Stifled by several second half turnovers, the Cathedral Catholic High School football team lost to Saint Augustine High School 35-21 last Friday in front of more than 5,000 people at Manchester Stadium.
“I love playing in front of a packed stadium,” senior running back Hogan Irwin said. “It brings out the best in the team.”
Trying to keep up with SAHS, CCHS struggled to get down the field through most of the first half. Although SAHS scored the contest’s first touchdown, CCHS football team and fans did not let it get to them.
Even though the crowd cheered wildly, it got deterred when the SAHS ran a bootleg, leading to another touchdown, making the score 14-0.
But the momentum was about to change.
Toward the end of the second quarter, CCHS bounced back as senior defensive lineman Owen Duvall intercepted the ball on the 45-yard line, and he ran it back to the 33-yard line of SAHS. The Dons ran the ball down to the one-yard line. Irwin took the ball and pushed it to the end-zone for a touchdown to bring CCHS within a touchdown at halftime.
“We had good blocks on offense and stopped them from a few drives on defense,” Duvall said.
SAHS struck first blood after halftime, scoring another touchdown with 10:03 left in the third quarter. Matters went from bad to worse as the Saints capitalized on several CCHS turnovers to push ahead 35-14 with 1:58 left in the third quarter.
CCHS managed to tack on additional points to edge closer, but time left them on the short end of the scoreboard.
“We played physical, but we just had too many mistakes,” Duvall said.
With the crowd quickly thinning due to the impending loss, it was all the team could do to keep the game going. One of the biggest students in school spirit, senior Victor Centera said, “It was a tough game and we had a solid fight, but regardless if we win or lose, no matter what, we love our team.”
The loss moves CCHS to 0-1 in Western League play as it tries to even its league record when the team plays Lincoln High School this Friday in southeast San Diego.
