Sacred Heart Cathedral proving its worth
Sacred Heart Cathedral defeated St. Ignatius 26-21 on Oct. 5 at Kezar Stadium in one of the top back-and-forth matchups in the 95-game history of the rivalry.
It was the second straight win for the Irish against SI, the first time that had occurred since 1987 and 1988.
On Friday, SHC defeated Bellarmine 14-0 at San Jose City College.
It was the Irish’s first win over the Bells in 21 seasons and the first time they had ever shut out Bellarmine, vaulting them into The Chronicle Top 25 rankings at No. 22 — a first this season and one of only a handful of times since the start of the century.
Clearly, the SHC program is making inroads under thirdyear head coach Barry McLaughlin, who is pleased to no end. You just won’t hear it much from him.
“I tell them to enjoy any and all accolades and exposure,” he said. “But when it’s time to practice or play the game, shut all of that down. The guys have done a good job of that.”
For instance, after the St. Ignatius win — which secured the first leg of the Bruce-Mahoney Trophy — the Irish could have come in flat against a struggling Bellarmine program.
Instead, SHC (4-3, 2-2 West Catholic Athletic League) gave up a scant 102 yards rushing to Bellarmine’s typically difficult wing-T offense and got a 21yard touchdown pass from Cian Dowling to senior receiver Kelekolio Mateo early in the third quarter to score the only touchdown it would need.
When senior running back Anthony Heard took a screen pass from Dowling and rambled 44 yards for a second score early in the fourth, the issue was all but decided.
The defense, led by 6-foot-2, 270-pound sophomore nose guard Evan Branch-Haynes and senior linebackers Raphael Cervantez and Evan Dere, did the rest. At 5-5, 150, Dere is at the other side of the size meter to Branch-Haynes.
Dere “is a real tough, strong kid,” McLaughlin said. “All the kids really swarm and play tough.”
Tough and physical are requisites for teams to survive in the WCAL, McLaughlin said. He knows because he played and coached at Riordan, before assisting for the Irish from 2006 to 2015. He replaced Ken Peralta in 2016.
Following a 2-8 season — the Irish’s fifth straight losing record — McLaughlin led SHC to a 6-5 mark last season, which ended with a Central Coast Section Open Division III firstround loss to Live Oak-Morgan Hill. SHC probably needs to win two of its final three games to return to D3 Open play.
The Irish host Riordan at 7 p.m. Friday at Kezar for the Stanfel Cup, followed by another home game with No. 11 Serra (Oct. 26) and the regular-season finale against Mitty at Foothill College (Nov. 2). Good rebound: St. Ignatius (1-6, 1-3) rode its do-everything senior to bounce from the loss to SHC to get its first win of the season Saturday at home, 38-24 over previously 19th-ranked Mitty.
Versatile Mark Biggins rushed 10 times for 70 yards and a score, caught three passes for 60 yards and another TD, and had three tackles and two pass deflections from his safety spot.
Other big performances were delivered by sophomore running back Jahsai Shannon (14 rushes, 123 yards, two touchdowns), junior quarterback Zach Taylor-Smith (10-for-11, 158 yards, TD) and sophomore linebacker Siaki Gallegos Hunkin (six tackles, interception, fumble recovery).
Senior two-way lineman Declan Elias had nine tackles (three for loss), junior linebacker Teddye Buchanan had an interception and senior tight end Bryan Blake caught a 28-yard touchdown pass. Fearsome foursome: The Academic Athletic Association’s top four teams — Lincoln, Galileo, Burton and Balboa — continue to win handily and are a combined 21-3 overall. Galileo (6-1, 3-0) has outscored foes 325-127, Lincoln (6-0, 2-0) 23281, Balboa (4-1, 2-0) 196-33 and Burton (5-1, 1-1) 250-99.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, Balboa visits Burton and Lincoln hosts Galileo.