SAN JOSE - From the outset, there was little doubt that Mitty (3-1, 1-0 WCAL) was the dominant team in its 41-0 over the Fightin' Irish of Sacred Heart Cathedral (1-3, 0-1). The running clock, initiated just a few minutes into the second half, only confirmed what had been known all night.
Mitty’s offense was led by star quarterback Phillip Tran, who started out his senior WCAL campaign on a good note. Tran only threw 10 passes on the night, but completed seven of them for 195 yards, including three touchdowns.
“Tran gets better every week,” said Monarch coach Kent Burns. “He’s special, and he knows that.”
Tran not only threw the pigskin well tonight, but also opened up the scoring with a 27-yard rush up the middle of the field just 46 seconds into the game. On Mitty’s next possession, he followed that up by throwing a 42-yard bomb to sophomore tailback Chaz Saenz on a double flea-flicker play.
As for the Irish’s offense, it was a different story, having now gone over eight quarters of putting up no points. In passing, Sacred Heart totaled just 27 yards between both of their junior quarterbacks, Will Irons and Andres Ruiz. Much of their – limited – success came on the ground, but star sophomore tailback Anthony Heard – or as his teammates call him, “speedy” - came down with an ankle injury in the second quarter. Mitty was already up by four touchdowns by that point, but it killed any hope thT Sacred Heart had left. Heard had just 24 yards on eight carries, but was the key part of the offense that the Irish couldn’t lose.
“He has a bad ankle, he just kind of re-sprained it,” said Sacred Heart Cathedral coach Ken Peralta. “I think he’ll be able to maybe play next week.”
Even before Heard’s ankle sprain, the Monarchs had been rolling over the Irish. After Tran’s opening rushing and passing touchdowns, he had two more passing scores before the half ended, including a 40-plus yard bomb to do-it-all senior Austin Kause. After junior Clay Crisafulli ran for a one-yard score early into the third quarter, the refs agreed the outcome wasn’t going to be pretty without a running clock. However, Crisafulli would rush for another touchdown later in the same quarter, this time on a 17-yard score.
The Mitty defense was prepared for anything, even if it included a change in quarterbacks of the Irish from the accurate-throwing arm of Irons to the much trickier and option-running Ruiz. Sacred Heart was able to salvage over 100 yards of offense, but only totaled 50 yards in the first two quarters, which didn’t have the running clock.
“Our mindset is the same every week- we have to take care of Mitty (ourselves),” Burns said.
The Monarchs definitely took care of themselves during their bye week, and now are looking to stretch their win streak to four games, as they host Valley Christian at home this Friday night.
“We have to keep this momentum going,” said Tran after the win. “Just fix up on our mistakes, and get better every week.”
Sacred Heart Cathedral looks to end their two game shutout skid, as they host WCAL opponent Serra this coming Friday night as well.
