With August coming to a close, many new things are in store for September: the weather gets colder, the leaves change color, and, most importantly, football season is back at Cathedral.
Despite coming off last year’s disappointing season, the Dons are in the hunt this year. Last year, after the paperwork mix up, the team was barred from participating in the CIF playoffs. The whole school felt a shockwave from this, feeling as though we had been robbed. Coach Doyle has been working hard with his players this offseason to help them get fired up to take back what they should have played in.
He mentioned how much heart the rest of the team felt for last year’s seniors who were not able to play in the playoffs. “Before every game, we have a banquet to usually talk about anything. Football is usually something we would try not to focus on, but this was during the period we were not sure whether or not we would get the playoff game. The underclassmen on the team stepped up and told the seniors if they couldn’t play in the playoffs, they would win a championship for them next year,” he said.
This degree of solidarity on a sports team has certainly helped push them harder in the offseason to reach the goal of getting into a CIF championship game. This year, the team will face some big obstacles besides just proving to the league that they deserved the playoff spot. Sponsored by the Brothers in Arms Foundation, the Dons will face off in a non-league game versus Jordan of Utah, a team ranked 32nd in the nation that will brin its game to Manchester Stadium this fall.
The Brothers in Arms Foundation is an organization which looks to hold events in honor of Lt. Brendan Looney, former Navy Seal killed in action in Afghanistan. Lt. Looney was an avid football and lacrosse player throughout high school and college, even attaining All-American status at the Naval Academy. The organization hopes his sacrifice can be honored by inspiring future generations of men in the United States to take up their place as responsible citizens and leaders in the future.
In addition to this, Cathedral will be facing an equally daunting foe again, this time at homecoming: Vista Murrieta. Last year, The Dons went on the road to face them . After the first half the Dons held on to a 3 point lead at 10-7, but unfortunately fumbled the ball giving them a defensive touchdown and then giving up a score on defense.
Clayton Dale, the new starting quarterback for this year, is eager to begin the upcoming season. “Our goal is to always try and go undefeated, win league, CIF, and make a run at state,” he said.
Defensive end Brett Sarem is ready to win this year as well. “Our front 7 will be instrumental in our success this year”. The front 7 on a football team is the 7 players on the defensive side of the ball who play closer to the line of scrimmage. Brett considered this years homecoming game to be a tough one and agrees that Vista Murrieta will be one of their toughest opponents.The Dons will open with Jordan of Utah this Friday, August 30th at 8 PM in our very own Manchester Stadium. Come to the game and cheer the team on or follow us on twitter @ElCidSports for live updates during the game.
