Cate football pulled out a 15-6 victory over Santa Clarita Christian in the CIF-SS Div. 2 8-man Quarterfinals on a rainy Saturday in Santa Clarita.
The Rams will now take on top-seeded Calvary Baptist in the Semifinals next Friday at 7 p.m. The location is to be determined.
“It was a battle against the elements, and I am so proud of our guys for digging in and leaving everything on the field,” Cate head coach Ben Soto said. “This group is getting hot at the right time, and our tough regular season has prepared us for these tight games.”
The rain slowed the game down significantly, as neither offense could get anything going in the early stages. In fact, the first score of the game came courtesy of special teams.
After Cate’s Quincy Thorne pinned the Santa Clarita Christian offense at its own 1-yard line on a punt, the Cardinals were forced to punt deep in their own endzone.
On the punt, Cate’s Shogo Hayashi drove the upback into the Santa Clarita punter to force a safety and give his team a 2-0 lead after one quarter of play.
The Rams found more success moving the ball on the ground in the second quarter thanks to quarterback Alex Kroehl and running back Barron Crayton, who each collected over 100 total yards.
Meanwhile, the defensive unit led by Sam Lambiotte, Crayton and Hayashi held Santa Clarita Christian off the board. In fact, with just under two minutes to go in the first half, Hayashi recovered a fumble to set the Rams up with strong field position.
They took advantage, as Kroehl hit Oliver Charvel in the back of the endzone for a 21-yard score and an 8-0 halftime lead.
That score held for the entirety of the third quarter as the rain-soaked field provided a fitting playing ground for the defensive slugfest.
Santa Clarita Christian finally broke through with 6:31 left in regulation on a 26-yard keeper to cut the deficit down to 8-6.
However, the Rams answered with a nine-play, 50-yard drive that was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown connection from Kroehl to Charvel to make it 15-6 with 1:43 to go..
Crayton and Nolan Montoya put an end to the game with several big defensive stops on the ensuing drive.