Football | 11/15/2025 9:57:00 AM

The following is an excerpt from the San Diego Union-Tribune article, "Roundup: Defense shines as Cathedral Catholic advances in Open Division playoffs; Carlsbad upsets LCC."

Two months ago, Kevin Clark was an afterthought, a special teams player buried on the Cathedral Catholic High School football depth chart.

"But the guy just kept making plays," Dons coach Sean Doyle said. "After our game against St. Francis in Mountain View, (defensive coordinator) John Montali came to me and said Kevin needed to be on the field. So we put him in, and he has been special."

Never more so than Friday night in a 42-35 shootout win over Mission Hills in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division semifinals.

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Clark recovered a Mission Hills fumble. On the next play, Honor Fa'alave-Johnson scored on a 47-yard run.

With the game tied 28-28 in the third quarter, Clark intercepted a pass, blunting a Mission Hills drive that had reached the Cathedral Catholic 20-yard line.

Finally, in the game's dying seconds, Clark intercepted his second pass of the game, this time on a deep ball. Mission Hills' hopes were dashed at the Dons' 15-yard line.

"I've never had a game like that, " said Clark, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior. "On the fumble, I just hustled to the ball, saw it come out and was in the right place at the right time. The Mission Hills quarterback (Troy Huhn) is really good, and Mission Hills' offensive line protected him well. So we had to make some plays on the back end."

Clark said "there was no panic" on the final drive.

"I just read my keys and the ball came to me," he said. "This was a special game."

Clark came into the Mission Hills game with 67 tackles, five tackles for losses and a sack. The fumble recovery was his second of the season. The interceptions were his first two of the season.

Cathedral Catholic (9-2), seeded No. 4, will play No. 3-seeded Carlsbad (10-1) on Nov. 25 for the Open Division championship and the right to play for a state title. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. from Southwestern College.