In only its third year, Cate School’s eight-man football team went deep, all the way to the CIF semifinal round. On Saturday, Cate ran into perrenial powerhouse Faith Baptist of Canoga Park, which lived up to its No. 1 seed by extending a narrow 14-7 halftime lead to a convincing 42-21 final score.
Last week, in the quarterfinal against Windward, Cate had trailed by 20 at the half before exploding for a 40-37 overtime victory. Against the bigger, well-balanced running and passing game of Faith Baptist, the Rams’ magic fell short.
The young Cate football program was piloted by head coach Ben Soto, who called the season, “One we can be very proud of. A league championship, the CIF semis … These kids accomplished a great deal.”