Cathedral Catholic Defeats Sacramento Jesuit

Cathedral Catholic 59 - 12 Sacramento Jesuit

The scoreline tells the tale, but we’ll give it a little color.

Cathedral Catholic looked like a well-oiled machine in a dominant victory over Sacramento Jesuit, who, to be fair, were coming off a win against Mira Costa the day before. Playing two games in two days is no small feat—this rugby stuff takes a toll!

Highlights from the game include phenomenal gashing runs by the Cathedral forward pack, along with fast-paced play from the back line. Spencer Huntley (Cathedral’s scrum-half) did a masterful job of directing traffic and delivering the ball with precision to his runners. Little-to-no delay in receiving the ball meant that his ball carriers always had a half-step advantage breaking the gain line.

Cathedral methodically stacked phases of play and capitalized on Jesuit’s mistakes—showing why they are one of the best HS teams in California. Putting up scores for Cathedral were Spencer Huntley (2 tries), Finn Kenney (2 tries), Dylan Trower, Reese Reiter, Tama Mageo, Mason Murphy, and Grant Gancarz. Spencer Huntley was successful on 5/7 conversion kicks, while Trent Boyle went 2/2.

On the other side, Jesuit’s fly-half, Jack Patock, demonstrated that he is a talented and savvy player, but a smothering defense from Cathedral kept him and his back line from getting much going. The Jesuit forward pack has a good defensive foundation to build on, making many big tackles and limiting Cathedral around the ruck at times, but they were unable to create many opportunities offensively in this match until the final whistle neared.

With a lead of 26-0 at halftime, Cathedral cruised to a few more scores in the second half before making substitutions and giving several younger guys playing time. Jesuit was able to score a couple tries late in the game, and to their credit, they never looked like a team that was down several tries. The Jesuit boys worked hard right to the end.

Final Score: Cathedral Catholic 59 - 12 Sacramento Jesuit

Some Observations:

• Jesuit looked a little bit rusty, which isn’t too surprising since this weekend was their first game action of the season—against some very good teams (Mira Costa Friday, and then Cathedral Catholic Saturday). We expect them to tune things up over the coming weeks. The tools are there.

• Cathedral Catholic plays fast and has the athletes to step on the gas pedal when needed. Their key decision makers, like Huntley and Dylan Trower (Cathedral’s fly-half) put excellent touch on the ball—both with their feet and hands, a massive plus if you want to take advantage of your speedy backs and forward pods. They make everything run smoothly.

Next up:

Cathedral Catholic takes on La Costa Canyon this Saturday, January 25th. Both teams sport a 3-0 record, so this should be a good match to watch.

Jesuit has the week off before heading to San Joaquin Memorial High School on February 1st.