Sack key to St. Ignatius’ BruceMahoney victory

St. Ignatius senior linebacker Peter Quill sacked Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Cian Dowling on a key fourth down play to sew up a 2017 win on Friday in the BruceMahoney game at Kezar Stadium.

The Irish were driving, hoping to retake the lead late. Facing a 4thand1 at the Wildcats’ 41 with 2:59 to go, Sacred Heart Cathedral coach Barry McLaughlin called a timeout to set up a play.

“We had a swing,” McLaughlin said. “We thought we had an advantage with one of our backs on the linebacker. We thought if he caught it, at a minimum it would get the yard. We could get a big play.”

Instead, linebacker Siaki Gallegos Hunkin had the play covered. Quill, who wasn’t originally blitzing, saw his opportunity.

“It wasn’t called a blitz for me, but I saw an opening and I read it,” Quill said.

The 14yard sack all but ended things. St. Ignatius (30) recorded two first downs and ran out the clock to claim its second straight game in the storied series, moving its overall record in the game to 63277. Only a few hundred fans — family members of players — were allowed due to COVID19 restrictions at a game that normally draws up to 10,000 fans.

Both teams played like it was a packed house.

The Wildcats took the lead for good on a 47yard touchdown pass from Aidan Smith to Ciaran GalvinQuinn with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter, the fifth lead change of the contest.

St. Ignatius got all it could handle from the Irish (03). The teams traded field goals in the first half, then a short punt gave Sacred Heart Cathedral the ball at the St. Ignatius 35. On 4thand8 at the 33, Dowling found Bruce Uperesa on a deep ball for the touchdown and a 103 halftime lead.

The Wildcats tied the score on the opening possession of the second half when Smith connected with Davis DeSouza on a 31yard scoring pass. Smith had come on to start the second half in relief of Cheddar Tunney.

Later in the third quarter, a 22yard field goal by John Grassi gave St. Ignatius a 1310 lead.

In the fourth quarter, a bizarre threeplay sequence allowed the Irish to retake the lead. First, Dowling’s short punt bounced off of the Wildcats’ Oliver Stuart and was recovered by Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Danny Panina at the Irish 49.

Then, Dowling tried to hook up with Tyrice Ivy deep down the left side, but St. Ignatius’ Patrick Timons intercepted the ball at the 10.

The Wildcats then sent GallegosHunkin on a run to the left. GallegosHunkin had a solid gain of around 10 yards when Ivy arrived and knocked the ball out. Jerry Mixon recovered and returned the ball 23 yards for a touchdown, giving the Irish a 1713 lead with 8:38 remaining.

Shannon finished with 103 rushing yards on 15 carries. Smith completed 6 of 14 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Dowling completed 18 of 31 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions. Uperesa caught seven passes for 83 yards.

More Friday: Without quarterback Jesse Madden (injured shoulder), No. 21 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (3-1) got two touchdown runs and more than 100 yards rushing from Matt White in a 20-0 home win over No. 19 James Logan-Union City (3-1). … Dillan Thomas rushed for 103 yards and three TDs and added seven tackles, leading No. 14 Campolindo-Moraga (5-0) to a 38-28 win over Las Lomas-Walnut Creek (1-3). Jacob Griessel completed TD passes of 58 yards to Max Hefferman and 16 yards to Maxwell Weaver. Emmanuel Karnley scored on a punt return (40 yards) and TD pass from Michael Wood for Las Lomas. … Senior Asher Haynes threw touchdown passes to Kimani Stafford (16 yards), Jaden Price (25), Tanner Hartwig (4) and Jeremiah Ruffin (11) as No. 24 Heritage-Brentwood (4-1) won 34-14 at Antioch (1-3). … Richard Jackson rushed for 188 yards and four TDs as host GunnPalo Alto (4-0) defeated Los Altos 55-21. Jackson has run for 638 yards and 10 TDs.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

#2 Serra 26, Riordan 3: Petelo Gi had three touchdown runs and Dominique Lampkin added another as the visiting Padres (4-0) set up an unofficial West Catholic Athletic League title tilt next week at St. Ignatius. Linebackers Flynn Williams and Eric Meyers led the Serra defense. Riordan dropped to 1-2.

#3 Pittsburg 67, Deer Valley-Antioch 8: Jaden Rashada threw four touchdown passes, Eli Brickhandlers three more and Daytuawn Pearson caught two TD passes and rushed for another as the visiting Pirates (4-0) took a 50-8 halftime lead and cruised.

#4 Valley Christian 36, Bellarmine 0: Jake Adjegbu rushed for two touchdowns, quarterback Jakeson Berman accounted for two scores, and the defense did the rest as the visiting Warriors (2-1) shut out the Bells (1-2).

Other games: Matteo Perez rushed for three touchdowns and Michael Ingrassia threw for three scores as No. 6 Marin Catholic-Kentfield defeated Central Catholic-Modesto 45-10. … Viliami Teu rushed 10 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns and No. 13 St. Francis (2-1) piled up 421 yards overall in a 41-8 win at Mitty (0-2), which got five catches for 82 yards and a TD from Ian Collier.