Cate School rallied to defeat Sage Hill, 21-16, in Newport Beach on Friday night to advance to the CIF-SS Division 1 8-man football championship game for the first time in program history,
The second-seeded Rams (10-1) will play either top-seed Thacher or Grace Brethren for the title next Friday. Thacher and Grace Brethren play Saturday at Thacher.
Cate recovered a fumble on the second play of the game and cashed in on the turnover. Will Bouma connected with Mason Oetgen for a 22-yard score.
The two seniors linked up again for a 54-yard touchdown later in the quarter for a 13-0 lead.
Sage Hill scored a touchdown to cut Cate’s lead to 13-7 at halftime.
Sage Hill tied the score in the third quarter. Oetgen blocked the PAT attempt that would have given Sage Hill the lead.
The Lightning took a 16-13 lead on a field goal with 10 minutes left in the game.
Cate’s offense found its groove as Bouman and Oetgen connected on a tremendous 23-yard pitch-and-catch to give Cate a 21-16 lead.
Oetgen then delivered on defense, intercepting a pass with three minutes to go.
Cate kept possession and worked the clock down to zero to secure the win.
“It wasn’t our prettiest game, but I’m so proud of the heart and fight our team showed,” said coach Ben Soto. “We talk about corazon (heart) every day in our program and we showed it last night. This group has earned this historic event for our program and I’m blessed to be their coach.”