SHC rallies to defeat St. Ignatius at Kezar
It’s hard to imagine there being a much better BruceMahoney football game than the one played Friday night at Kezar Stadium.
And this was the 95th meeting.
Anthony Heard rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns and Levar Watkins Jr. hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback with Cian Dowling with 3:48 left to lift Sacred Heart Cathedral to a 26-21 West Catholic Athletic League win over St. Ignatius before about 6,000 fans.
Sacred Heart Cathedral (3-3, 1-2) held on downs on St. Ignatius’ next possession to secure the first leg of the Bruce-Mahoney trophy, which the Irish captured last season.
Mark Biggins and Heard traded early touchdown runs before quarterback Zack Taylor-Smith sneaked in from the 1 to give St. Ignatius (0-6, 0-3) at 14-7 lead. Biggins set up the TD with a 60-yard run to the 1.
Heard then scored two touchdowns, the second on a 5-yard run with 10:02 left in the fourth quarter, to give the Irish their first lead, 20-14.
Right back came St. Ignatius, with Taylor-Smith threading the needle on a 16-yard slant TD pass to Matt Rosen, giving the Wildcats a 21-20 lead and 7:21 left. Galileo 42, Mission 36: The host Lions (5-1, 2-0 Academic Athletic Association) scored 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, capped by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Ronald Fox to Michael Duran with 3:05 remaining, to beat the Bears (3-2, 1-1). Jelani Al Malik scored on a 75-yard run — he scored earlier on a 55-yard run — to give Mission a 36-24 lead heading into the fourth. But Fox completed a 30-yard TD pass to Reese Bickart and Yarvell Smith rushed for his third TD to tie the score at 36. Galileo won despite missing all seven two-point conversion tries. #1 De La Salle-Concord 55, #10 Monte Vista-Danville 0: The host Spartans scored on their first seven possessions, three on plays of more than 80 yards. Shamar Garrett (three carries, 164 yards) scored on runs of 87 and 65 yards, Dorian Hale had TD passes of 40 and 17 yards to Isaiah Foskey, and James Coby added an 80-yard TD run. Hale also completed an 82-yard TD pass to Grant Daley as De La Salle (7-0) piled up 521 total yards in the first half and finished with 605. Monte Vista (5-2), which hadn’t given up more than 17 points in a game before Friday, got 182 yards passing from Jack Stewardson. #2 Liberty-Brentwood 52, #10 Antioch 0: Sione Vaki returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and caught two TD passes from Jay Butterfield as Liberty (8-0, 3-0 Bay Valley Athletic League) beat host Antioch (6-2, 1-2). Tyerell SturgesCofer added touchdown runs of 27, 7 and 34 yards. #3 St. Francis 7, #11 Valley Christian 3: Opeti Fangupo scored on a 3-yard run with 8:20 left in the third quarter as the host Lancers (5-1, 3-0 WCAL) beat the Warriors (4-2, 2-1). Valley Christian, which managed 204 yards, got a 30-yard field goal by Luca Ramirez with 7:11 to go. The Warriors were in position for a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute, but Maurice Wilmer’s end zone interception ended the drive. #5 Pittsburg 52, #14 FreedomOakley 14: Premier Murphy scored two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter and finished with four overall as the host Pirates (6-2, 3-0 BVAL) beat the Falcons (5-3, 1-2). #17 Menlo-Atherton 30, #23 Terra Nova-Pacifica 8: Troy Franklin, the state’s top sophomore recruit according to 247Sports, had a 50-yard touchdown reception and two interceptions to lead the host Bears (4-2, 2-0 Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division) past the Tigers (5-1, 0-1). Jaeden Barker also threw for 170 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 105 more yards for MenloAtherton, which took a 30-0 lead in the third quarter. Terra Nova’s Jared Julien threw for a touchdown but was sacked nine times.