SAN FRANCISCO – Led by a stifling defense and a well-executed offense, Archbishop Mitty took down St. Ignatius 37-21 at JB Murphy Field on Saturday afternoon.
Senior quarterback Phillip Tran led the charge, as he threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one.
“He’s a winner,” Mitty coach Keith Burns said. “He takes care of the football, he’s got a really good, strong arm and he’s a much better runner than people give him credit for.”
After recovering a bad snap from the Wildcat offense on the first play from scrimmage, the Monarchs were set up with great field position just seconds into the game. On the very next play, Tran found a wide-open Austin Kause, who coasted in for a 17-yard Mitty touchdown.
On the Monarchs’ next possession, Tran found a huge hole in the SI defense and rushed 39 yards for another touchdown to put Mitty up 14-0 early in the first quarter.
“We just had to get the offense in sync,” Tran said. “We struggled a little bit but when we got back on top, we were real good.”
Tran would continue his dominance early in the third quarter when he hit senior wide receiver Nathan Vane on an easy eight-yard touchdown pass. Following the touchdown, Mitty led 30-6.
“It’s nice to have a veteran quarterback and he did what he had to do to win today,” Burns said.
Tran finished with 101 yards through the air and completed 12 of 26 passes. On the ground, Tran rushed for 55 yards on 11 carries.
The Monarchs’ other scores came on a 35-yard pick six in the second quarter from Kause, who had a big day in all three phases. Later in the second, Mitty forced a safety following a bad snap on a Wildcat punt. Midway through the fourth, a 25-yard touchdown run from senior running back Zondre Faraj-Washington iced the game, as Mitty led 37-13 at that point.
As for St. Ignatius, the Wildcats struggled to get things going on offense in the first half. Turnovers and three-and-outs dug SI into a hole early, and they were unable to climb out.
“It was a very slow start,” SI coach John Regalia said. “We turned the ball over on the first play, and then they scored on one play. It’s 7-0 and there’s 10 seconds gone. It’s a fast start on Mitty and a slow start on us.”
The Cats’ only score in the first half came on a 14-yard touchdown run from senior Nick Menchero. However, the extra point was blocked, and SI still trailed 23-6 heading into halftime.
In the second half, following an interception off of Tran, senior quarterback Patrick Brosnan led his team down the field, finishing the drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to senior Rusty McDonough.
Late in the fourth quarter, Brosnan found McDonough again for a 5-yard touchdown to draw closer. But the Cats’ comeback fell short, as their onside kick was unsuccessful, sealing the victory for the Monarchs.
“We just have to look at exactly what we didn’t execute,” Regalia said. “But I really think we had the right stuff. We just have to execute there.”
Archbishop Mitty (4-2, 2-1) will stay on the road as they will face St. Francis on Friday night, with kickoff being scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
St. Ignatius (3-3, 1-2) will travel to Serra to play the Padres on Friday night. That one kicks off at 7:00 p.m.
