MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — Football is an emotional sport, and emotions are always on display in a state championship game, but there was even more at stake than usual for the Cathedral Catholic Dons on Friday night.
A community healing from the loss of a coach and player celebrated a championship on Friday night, getting revenge on Folsom in a rematch of a 2018 overtime loss with a 33-21 victory in the 2021 CIF Division 1-AA Championship.
“We watched that 2018 film,” linebacker Victory Johnson said. “That was a game we thought we should have won. This was revenge.”
Johnson’s 36-yard pick six less than two minutes into the third quarter started a chain of punches and counterpunches, but for every blow that Folsom (11-4) landed, the Dons had an answer. Johnson’s interception put Cathedral Catholic (12-2) up 20-7, but the Bulldogs responded immediately as quarterback Tyler Tremain showed no lingering effects from the interception, completing five straight passes, including a 38-yarder to fellow senior Austin McMillan for the score.
Lucky Sutton, who ran for an unbelievable seven touchdowns and 431 yards in last week’s regional win over Orange Lutheran, carried six times on the next drive before Charlie Mirer threw his second touchdown pass to Rex Haynes, a 22-yard strike.
Again, Tremain delivered a response. The 5-foot-10 senior, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 251 yards, hit top target Rico Flores (9 catches, 103 yards) for a 15-yard gain to set up Donovan Maxey-Parler’s 1-yard plunge to trim the lead to 26-21 with 10:18 left.
A Cathedral Catholic team that put up blistering numbers on the ground to advance to the state championship sealed the game with a rushing barrage, but it was a chain of short gains that decided the affair. Sutton plunged over the middle to convert a third-and-1, Tanoai Letuli gained 4 on a fourth-and-1 and Mirer delivered the piercing blow for his only positive run play of the game, bouncing to the outside on a fourth-and-1 for a game-sealing 28-yard touchdown run.
The celebrations that began after a Folsom turnover on downs capped off a journey for a senior class that not only had to deal with the pandemic and its associated challenges, but also the loss of a teammate and coach. Special teams coordinator Mario Fierro was murdered in February, and linebacker Connor White died unexpectedly in May.
Those losses made Friday’s celebrations, which incorporated an enthusiastic crowd and the singing of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” which has become a team anthem of sorts over the years, all the more special.
“With all we’ve been through, to finish like this seals the deal for them,” Cathedral Catholic head coach Sean Doyle said.
For Folsom, the defeat meant the Bulldogs’ quest for a fifth state title in program history ended short of its goal, one week after they had posted a landmark win over De La Salle in the Northern California championship.
“We beat the best team in Northern California on the road,” Folsom head coach Paul Doherty said. “Not a lot of people have done that.”
Friday was the final game for Tremain, McMillan and San Jose State linebacker commit Justin Eklund, who blocked an extra point in the first quarter to keep the Bulldogs up 7-6 after Sutton broke free for a 73-yard touchdown run on Cathedral Catholic’s second play. The Bulldogs scored on their opening drive, with McMillan catching a 2-yard score from Tremain on Folsom’s 11th play.
“The really cool thing about Folsom is that it’s a community football program,” Doherty said. “Tyler and Austin have been playing together since second grade.”
As difficult as it will be to replace the outgoing seniors, the returners for the Bulldogs offer hope for a bright future. Flores has established himself as one of the best receivers in Northern California, and though tight end Walker Lyons didn’t record a catch on Friday, his size and route running ability make him a likely candidate to take the Sacramento area by storm in 2022.
Assuming the Bulldogs come out swinging again next year, a season in which they’ll face NorCal powers Serra and De La Salle early in the season, perhaps a third state championship clash with Cathedral Catholic will be on the way.
“This is a little bit of a rivalry,” Sean Doyle said.
Johnson will be back for another go-around with the Dons next year, but Doyle’s team will graduate Mirer, Sutton, Haynes and Nick Dockery. Haynes caught both of Mirer’s touchdowns, including a 19-yarder to five Cathedral Catholic a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter, and Dockery recorded an interception at midfield.
