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Cathedral Catholic receiver Chance Early took this catch for a fourth-quarter touchdown
Dons capture third straight title in dramatic fashion
The past two seasons, Cathedral Catholic has made winning section titles look easy. In the Division III finals Friday, the Dons showed a flair for the dramatic in winning their third in a row. Cathedral Catholic scored two touchdowns in the final quarter to spoil Point Loma’s upset bid and pull out a 20-14 win.
“The kids’ experience from the last couple of years really took it over in the end,” said Cathedral Catholic head coach Sean Doyle. “They were not going to quit.”
Point Loma had the Dons on the ropes early in the fourth quarter, ahead 14-6 with the ball at midfield. But after Cathedral Catholic lineman Mustafa Jalil fell on a Pointers botched snap, the Dons began their comeback.
Cathedral Catholic scored on a one-yard Jonny Martin touchdown with 7:10 left, trailing by two after a missed two-point conversion. After a Point Loma punt, the Dons decided to ditch their running attack in spite of the sloppy conditions.
“That series I told them, ‘They’re stuffing us on the ground we got to go up top,’” Doyle said.
Two plays later, Cathedral Catholic went to the air and quarterback Max Brewer found receiver Chance Early on a precisely placed deep ball for a 63-yard touchdown. Early hauled in the pass, and slipped by his defender en route to the endzone.
“Right when I caught it I thought they would bring me down,” Early said. “But I just hurdled him and got it and dove into the endzone. I just slipped out and got it.”
The Brewer-to-Early touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion put Cathedral Cathedral Catholic ahead 20-14. The Dons’ defense then made two stops, the last coming with Point Loma driving in the final seconds. The Pointers had the ball at the Cathedral Catholic 35-yard line with 11 seconds left when Jalil sacked Keegan Fitzgerald to run out the clock.
“Our defense was just tremendous, Doyle said. “They got a lot of yards, but when they got down here they made plays when they needed to.”
Both defenses set the tone from the outset in a mistake-filled first half. Cathedral Catholic scored the lone touchdown of the first half, a Martin one-yard run late in the first quarter.
Point Loma built their lead with a pair of long runs in the third quarter. On the opening drive of the second half, Pointers running back Leslie Rogers ran for a 60-yard touchdown and later in the third Fitzgerald ran out of the pocket for a 25-yard score.
“We know what our team can do when we show up to play,” Jacko said. “All we needed was one play to turn the tide around.”
With the dramatic victory, Cathedral Catholic now has back-to-back-to-back section titles in Division III. Jacko, a senior, is one of a handful of Dons that has been a member of the varsity team for all three championships.
“That means the world to us,” Jacko said. “We wanted this for a long time and all of our hard work and dedication has paid off.”
Cathedral Catholic receiver Chance Early took this catch for a fourth-quarter touchdown
Dons capture third straight title in dramatic fashion
The past two seasons, Cathedral Catholic has made winning section titles look easy. In the Division III finals Friday, the Dons showed a flair for the dramatic in winning their third in a row. Cathedral Catholic scored two touchdowns in the final quarter to spoil Point Loma’s upset bid and pull out a 20-14 win.
“The kids’ experience from the last couple of years really took it over in the end,” said Cathedral Catholic head coach Sean Doyle. “They were not going to quit.”
Point Loma had the Dons on the ropes early in the fourth quarter, ahead 14-6 with the ball at midfield. But after Cathedral Catholic lineman Mustafa Jalil fell on a Pointers botched snap, the Dons began their comeback.
Cathedral Catholic scored on a one-yard Jonny Martin touchdown with 7:10 left, trailing by two after a missed two-point conversion. After a Point Loma punt, the Dons decided to ditch their running attack in spite of the sloppy conditions.
“That series I told them, ‘They’re stuffing us on the ground we got to go up top,’” Doyle said.
Two plays later, Cathedral Catholic went to the air and quarterback Max Brewer found receiver Chance Early on a precisely placed deep ball for a 63-yard touchdown. Early hauled in the pass, and slipped by his defender en route to the endzone.
“Right when I caught it I thought they would bring me down,” Early said. “But I just hurdled him and got it and dove into the endzone. I just slipped out and got it.”
The Brewer-to-Early touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion put Cathedral Cathedral Catholic ahead 20-14. The Dons’ defense then made two stops, the last coming with Point Loma driving in the final seconds. The Pointers had the ball at the Cathedral Catholic 35-yard line with 11 seconds left when Jalil sacked Keegan Fitzgerald to run out the clock.
“Our defense was just tremendous, Doyle said. “They got a lot of yards, but when they got down here they made plays when they needed to.”
Both defenses set the tone from the outset in a mistake-filled first half. Cathedral Catholic scored the lone touchdown of the first half, a Martin one-yard run late in the first quarter.
Point Loma built their lead with a pair of long runs in the third quarter. On the opening drive of the second half, Pointers running back Leslie Rogers ran for a 60-yard touchdown and later in the third Fitzgerald ran out of the pocket for a 25-yard score.
“We know what our team can do when we show up to play,” Jacko said. “All we needed was one play to turn the tide around.”
With the dramatic victory, Cathedral Catholic now has back-to-back-to-back section titles in Division III. Jacko, a senior, is one of a handful of Dons that has been a member of the varsity team for all three championships.
“That means the world to us,” Jacko said. “We wanted this for a long time and all of our hard work and dedication has paid off.”