Cate scored the first 16 points of a contest with Leadership Military Academy and held on to win a 34-28 thriller on Saturday.
The win is the season’s first for the Rams, who dropped a game to Flintridge Prep on Sept. 2.
Junior Pen Brooks got Cate on the board with a 75-yard scoring strike to junior Tyler Martinez. The second score came from a pick six by sophomore Ethan Rhenborg, who stepped in front of a Wolfpack pass and returned it 65 yards.
After LMA ran the ball in from one yard out for a touchdown, Cate responded with a nine-yard pitch from Brooks to senior Jack Whelan. The score at half was 22-6 Cate.
After an LMA score to open the second half, Brooks scored on a 62-yard carry. From there, the Wolfpack scored two more times to tie the game at 28. The two teams traded possessions, including a goal-line stand by Cate, with no score.
Then, with under a minute left, Cate blocked an LMA punt that gave them the ball in LMA territory. With 22 seconds left to play, Brooks found Whelan in the corner of the end zone to give the Rams the win.
The Cate defense was led by Rhenborg, who had two interceptions.
“Junior Kristian Scurtis, sophomore Cody Mast, junior Muhsin Abdul Hakim, and sophomore Johnny Foster played stout defense for the Rams,” coach David Soto said.
“LMA was a tough and physical team with tons of heart. I’m proud of the way we responded when the chips were down. Our goal is to learn from our mistakes and build on the things we did well.
The Rams play Santa Clara at home on Sept. 24.