Football | 9/1/2023 11:11:00 PM

The following is an excerpt from The San Diego Union Tribune article, "Cathedral Catholic falls short against Phoenix Brophy Prep in Honor Bowl nightcap."


Cathedral QB Jack Stevens throws three picks while under heavy pressure all night and Dons defense allows 201 yards rushing

The Cathedral Catholic High football program has never backed down from a challenge, looking to play the best teams it can schedule.

"Never have, never will," said Dons coach Sean Doyle.

Friday night in the nightcap of the 10th Honor Bowl, Cathedral Catholic ran into another buzz saw, hanging with, but finally falling to Phoenix Brophy College Prep, 31-21.

The Broncos (1-1) lost a one-point game in the last seconds last week and are ranked No. 18 in Arizona. Cathedral Catholic, ranked No. 6 in San Diego and No. 45 in California, falls to 1-2.

"You'll never be the best if you don't play the best," Doyle said. "That's a very good team we played. And next week we travel to the Bay Area to play St. Ignatius."

Cathedral Catholic got off to a fast start, taking advantage of a bad snap on a Brophy Prep field goal attempt that put the ball at the Dons 48.

Six plays later, Ethan Ford scooted in from 10 yards out to give Cathedral Catholic an early 7-0 lead.

Brophy Prep bounced right back, driving 71 yards on 10 plays with quarterback Charlie McGinnis scoring on a 5-yard run.

After forcing a Dons punt, the Broncos went 55 yards on eight plays with McGinnis finding Christian Camarata for a 9-yard TD.

Cathedral Catholic let a golden opportunity slip away later in the second quarter.

Jack Stevens' pass was intercepted by Brophy Prep at the 2 by Jack Sebald. On the first play from scrimmage, the Dons appeared to have scored a safety, but the officials ruled the runner squeezed out to the 1.

Brophy Prep ripped off gains of 13 and 12 yards before punting with under a minute to play.

Cathedral got a 35-yard pass play from Stevens to Anthony Perritano, but Stevens' long pass was intercepted at the 2 by Cree Thomas as time ran out in the half.

Cathedral tied it at 14 on the opening drive of the second half with Stevens finishing a 52-yard drive with a 7-yard pass to Hunter Harrington.

Brophy came right back and recaptured the lead on a 1-yard run by Carlos Estrada.

The Broncos made it 28-14 with a 9-yard pass from McGinnis to Daylen Sharper.

Cathedral Catholic got back in the game when Stevens hit Harrington for a 65-yard gain to the Brophy 7. Stevens scored on the next play to make it 28-21.

The Dons, however, couldn't regain possession.

Cathedral Catholic gave up 201 yards rushing and 160 passing.

The Dons rushed for 111 yards and Stevens, who was under pressure all night, passed for 192 yards. He threw three interceptions. All three as he was scrambling away from a heavy rush.

"We need to sit down and re-evaluate where we're at, what we're doing," Doyle said. "The positive coming out of this is that the guys never gave up, never gave in.

"Now we need to see something positive from our effort."

Continue reading the full article on the The San Diego Union Tribune.