At 3-7, St. Ignatius prepping for playoffs
With his team winless after six games and 1-7 after eight, St. Ignatius head coach John Regalia wasn’t remotely contemplating the postseason.
Not until he was informed Sunday that the Wildcats (3-7) had been seeded seventh in the Central Coast Section Open Division 3 playoffs did it finally sink in.
“The entire focus every week was simply getting better,” Regalia said.
With wins by a combined score of 69-0 the past two weeks, the Wildcats got much better and now are probably the one team in D3 nobody wants to play.
The combined records of teams to which St. Ignatius lost the first five weeks is 43-8. The Wildcats lost 26-21 in a Week 6 game to archrival Sacred Heart Cathedral (5-5), a team seeded fifth in D3. Since then, they are 3-1 and picking up steam.
They play at second-seeded Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (9-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“We trusted our strength of schedule and the guys just kept building,” Regalia said. “We matured and grew the entire time. Regardless of record or how the season turned out, I was proud how the guys stayed the course.”
Regalia said the improvements permeated throughout the program, evenly divided between players, positions and coaches. But here are four reasons the Wildcats are where they are:
Following a 50-14 loss at Serra on Oct. 19, the Wildcats haven’t allowed a point and are limiting their opponents to fewer than 200 yards per game.
“Our defensive guys have been playing hard and physical and confident for some time now,” Regalia said. “Now we’re just seeing it on the scoreboard.”
Running back/safety Mark Biggins is finishing a stellar senior season — his third as a starter — with a flurry. He’s the team’s leading rusher and touchdown scorer, and a big threat as a receiver. In a 34-0 win over Bellarmine on Saturday, he scored on a pair of 18-yard runs and added a pick-six.
“He’s a very special player and person in the school,” Regalia said. “His voice and energy is vital to our program. He expects success and holds himself and others accountable. He’s strong and smart and there’s no doubt he’ll play at the next level.”
Quarterback Zachary Taylor Smith, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior, emerged from a tight pack of three to take the starting position five weeks ago.
“He started out at No. 3, but when our No. 1 (Teddye Buchanan) went down with an injury, Zachary really stepped up,” Regalia said. “He’s done a great job of settling in and just being himself. His development and emergence has been one of our biggest keys. He’s got a good strong arm, is very smart and has a tremendously high ceiling.”
Sophomore running back Jahsai Shannon has given the Wildcats speed and a quick-strike threat that they’ve lacked recently. “He’s a very dynamic skill player with a very high football IQ,” Regalia said. “He’s grounded, works his tail off, and is a really good teammate. He’s got a quiet demeanor but plays very loud.”
In Sacred Heart Prep, a team that has outscored opponents 337-136, the Wildcats play a team “that is very aggressive on defense, has a lot of talented young athletes and is extremely well coached,” Regalia said. “All their kids are in the right spots. They play with a lot of confidence.
“They’re 9-1 for a reason. They play in a strong league (Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division) with Terra Nova and Menlo-Atherton and Half Moon Bay. They’re very impressive.”