CIF-Central Coast Section: Sacred Heart Cathedral upends St. Ignatius in Bruce-Mahoney game

SAN FRANCISCO — When he wasn’t exhorting his team to focus, sprinting down the sideline or frantically gesturing to his staff, Sacred Heart Cathedral football coach Antoine Evans spent most of his team’s game against rival St. Ignatius employing a more cerebral trick — calling out the opposing team’s plays before they happened.

Thanks to Evans’ Nostradamus-like predictions and a spirited effort from players like Oregon-bound recruit Jerry Mixon, Jr., the Fightin’ Irish’s defense put on a dominating effort, shutting out the Wildcats 10-0 at Kezar Stadium in West Catholic Athletic League play. 

The win lifts the Irish to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in WCAL play, while St. Ignatius dropped to 2-5 and 1-3. It was the fourth win in the last six meetings with St. Ignatius, which still holds a 63-29-7 edge in the series. 

Friday was the 99th meeting between the storied programs, making it one of the longest rivalry games West of the Mississippi.

It was the first time SHC had shutout the Wildcats since 1987.

“We really tried to mix up coverage as much as possible and we tried to play with as much speed as possible,” said Evans, who’s in his first season as head coach for the Irish, the defending state Division 5-A champion. “I can’t say enough about the effort of our guys. They made a few mistakes here and there, but they played with so much heart.”

Sacred heart as it were. 

It was a carnival-like atmosphere at Kezar Stadium, with an estimated 8,000 fans turning out for the latest iteration of the Bruce-Mahoney rivalry game. 

Established in 1947 and named after two fallen WWII heroes from the schools, the winner of the Bruce-Mahoney trophy has historically been decided by the winners of the school’s boys baseball, football and basketball games, although that competition was recently extended to include girls’ volleyball and basketball. 

The St. Ignatius girls volleyball team won the first matchup of the year, meaning the Irish’s win Friday evened up the best-of-five matchup.

With a heavy fog and brisk temperatures, neither team was able to establish much of an offensive flow on Friday night, although SHC did find some success behind the ground game of senior running back Kendric Sanders, who ran for 103 yards on 17 carries.

After a first quarter spent mostly in St. Ignatius territory, Sacred Heart Cathedral opened the scoring on the first play of the second quarter, courtesy of its defense. 

St. Ignatius sophomore quarterback Soren Hummel, who was under constant pressure throughout the game, was gang tackled for a 5-yard loss in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

Less than four minutes later, the Irish got the ball back with a short field, taking over on the Saint Ignatius 31-yard-line after a 10 yard punt from the Wildcats. 

Junior quarterback Aidan McGrath found senior wide receiver Isaiah Keishk for two straight completions of 11 and nine yards, before a pass interference penalty put the ball on the Wildcats’ 6-yard line. 

Mixon, who spent most of the night absolutely terrorizing the Wildcats from his linebacker position, took a handoff and plowed in for the touchdown. 

He also ran in the ensuing point after try, bringing the score to 10-0 with 7:33 remaining in the second quarter.

That 10-point cushion was more than enough for the dominating Irish defense, which hounded Hummel all night, picking him off twice while consistently limiting any big plays.

Sacred Heart dominated the line of scrimmage as well, holding the Wildcats to less than 50 yards on the ground.

“We practiced on Saturday and spent an extra three hours preparing specifically for this game and this offense,” said Mixon, who had coaches from the University of Oregon rooting him on at the game. “Our coaches had us so ready for this game. All we had to do was go out and execute.”

Both teams struggled to move the ball for most of the second half, although SHC put together a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter, which included seven carries for 33 yards from Sanders. 

Although the drive ended when McGrath fumbled in the Saint Ignatius end zone, there were less than two minutes left when the Wildcats took back possession.

“Our offensive line was dominant tonight — all the credit needs to go them,” Sanders said. “They opened up some huge holes for me. They made it easy for me tonight.”

After the game, the Irish celebrated with some dancing, singing and even a few acrobatic flips straight out of a gymnastics routine. 

Well after the final horn, thousands of fans on the Sacred Heart side were still celebrating enthusiastically.  

“This is a special game,” Evans said. “It’s special for the players, it’s special for the fans, it’s special for the alumni and it’s special for the city of San Francisco. 

"You can’t ask for a better atmosphere than this, and I’m just glad that we came out of here with a win.”

All photos by SBLive photographer Eric Taylor