WEST HILLS — After a disappointing performance in its season opener, the Chaminade High School football team was eager to put that loss behind it. On Friday night they did just that as they downed visiting Cathedral Catholic, 40-30, turning last week’s loss into a distant memory.
“We won the toss, and we wanted the ball,” said Chaminade quarterback Seth Shigg. “The first drive is everything you know. That’s the energy right there. That determines what the momentum is and I think we came out and capitalized. We put that last game behind us and we handled our business.”
Shigg gave the Eagles (1-1) that momentum almost immediately. The junior signal caller scored his first of two rushing touchdowns to cap an opening drive that needed just three minutes before he plunged into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
He paced a rushing attack that ultimately scored five touchdowns in the impressive win over Cathedral. Junior Jackson Tyler had a pair of rushing scores and sophomore Niles Davis added one of his own, breaking multiple tackles on his way into the end zone.
“When you run the ball well the game obviously becomes easier,” said Eagles coach David Machucha. “I gotta also mention Marquise Jones. He’s a freshman and he was out there. He cranked out some tough yards for us as well. They just did a good job. we had a plan and we executed the plan. Hats off to the kids believing especially coming off of a 55-28 loss.”
Chaminade thrived on third downs in the win, including one touchdown drive in which they converted on third down five different times. On third downs Shigg ran for first downs seven times and passed for two more.
The Eagles defense proved far more effective than a week ago as well. They knocked down seven passes in the win, including two that were batted out of the hands of a Dons receiver in the end zone.
“Hats off to the defense and the defensive staff for bouncing back,” said Machucha. “Giving up 55 points, you know a lot of times you’re like, ‘Oh man, the world’s over.’ We didn’t need to reinvent the wheel. We need to get back to Chaminade football. We believe in what we do that’s what we did tonight.”
The Eagles relied on an impressive kicking game to help separate from the Dons. Senior Ryan Sayeri drilled a pair of 53-yard field goals in the win. The first one came as time expired in the first half. After failing to convert on a third-and-long run with just under 20 seconds in the half, Chaminade impressively got their kick team in place and snapped the ball just before time expired. The field goal sent them into the locker room with a 24-10 lead. He kicked his second from the same distance in the fourth quarter.
“Two in one game is crazy,” said Machucha. “The one at the end of the half was a huge play. We practice that every Thursday. There was a lot of momentum and a lot of people probably wouldn’t run the ball right there with no timeouts, but I told the guys, ‘Hey listen if we don’t get the first down we’re gonna do what we do on Thursdays. Run on the field and let’s rock and roll. So I honestly wasn’t worried about the time if we didn’t get the first down. I know it’s probably funny to say but I felt confident.”
That confidence grew on the first play of the second half when Dons (1-1) star running back Ethan Ford – who had all four Cathedral touchdowns in defeat – fumbled in Dons territory when he ran into a wall of defenders.
“That’s something we talked about”, said Machucha. “Rallying to the ball, knowing he runs the ball hard and it wasn’t gonna be one guy taking him down. We did a great job. Obviously, first play of the second half, he fumbles. And that’s what we talked about. We gotta get 11 hats on the ball. We did that on that play. And I think that really changed the momentum of the game.”