Photos and game info from Ryan Tomey
Football:
The last time the St. Francis football program won a game at Cathedral, Jack Jacobs and Devyn Turner were just 10 years old.
On Friday, though, the Golden Knights would outscore the Phantoms by nine points in the second half, and claimed a 48-39 victory.
The win also allowed SFHS to leapfrog the Phantoms into a first-place tie with Loyola in the Angelus League standings.
An argument could easily be made that this was Dean Herrington’s biggest regular season victory since taking over in 2021.
And it comes in a year where the Golden Knights defense struggled mightily to get stops.
But now, seven games in, SFHS finds itself 5-2, and their defense has gotten better in the last few weeks.
In that 2014 showdown in Los Angeles, St. Francis won in similar fashion, 52-41, on October 17th.
On Friday, and to their credit, Cathedral answered back time and again, but the Golden Knights made one more stop than did the Phantoms.
SFHS quarterback, Jack Jacobs, opened the scoring with a 35-yard TD run.
A Cathedral lineman recovered a fumble in the end zone with 7:44 to play in the first quarter, and the game was tied at 7-7.
Still in the first quarter, Jacobs connected with Antonio Merlos on a 20-yard score.
The Phantoms responded with a 61-yard passing TD, but after missing their extra-point attempt, they trailed the Golden Knights, 14-13, with 26.5 seconds to play in the first period.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Jacobs found DruShun Phillips on a 15-yard TD.
On the extra-point attempt, a Cathedral penalty would put the ball on the 1-yard line.
St. Francis went for two, but were denied by the Phantoms defense.
With 8:58 to play in the half, Cathedral had another long TD through the air.
This time it was an 80-yard strike and the game was tied at 20-20.
Adam Sandoval picked off a Cathedral pass and brought it back 50 yards for a TD, and a 27-20 lead.
After the Phantoms tied the game at 27-27, Devyn Turner scored his first TD of the night with 1:43 to play in the third period.
Turner’s 1-yard score gave SFHS yet another lead on Friday night.
Jacobs would extend the lead to 41-27 with eight minutes to play on a 1-yard TD run.
Leading 41-33, and with 2:08 to play, Preston Jernegan picked off a Cathedral pass.
Turner would put the game on ice with a 22-yard rushing TD that gave the Golden Knights a 15-point lead with 1:45 to play.
The Phantoms would score one last time with 10.4 seconds to go on a 7-yard TD pass, but the damage had already been done.
The SFHS win was as big psychologically as it was in the Angelus League hierarchy.
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Box Score:
SF: 14-6-14-14-(48)
C: 13-7-7-12-(39)
St. Francis’ Remaining Schedule:
10/14: Crespi at St. Francis
10/21: St. Paul at St. Francis
10/28: St. Francis at Loyola
Angelus League Scores:
St. Paul 17, Paraclete 6
Loyola 49, Crespi 0
St. Francis 48, Cathedral 39
Angelus League Standings:
St. Francis (5-2 overall, 2-0 in league)
Loyola (3-4, 2-0)
Cathedral (5-2, 1-1)
St. Paul (3-4, 1-1)
Crespi (0-7, 0-2)
Paraclete (0-7, 0-2)
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