Point Loma upsets Cathedral to remain undefeated

POINT LOMA What does a football coach do when his squad is scheduled to face the section s No organization one they haven t defeated since and who ripped them - last year Not a tough decision for Point Loma head coach Ryan Price You convince your players they are capable of defeating that opponent And they did The Pointers scored their second touchdown late in the competition after holding Cathedral Catholic to one early sum to win a dramatic non-league meeting - and remain undefeated at - We focused on believing all week in practice Price declared at midfield on Bennie Edens Field as spectators passed by shouting congratulations And you could see as the week went on the kids supposed more and more by the day To be sure this wasn t an easy task The Cathedral lists players who weigh pounds or more with three of those exceeding pounds But an inspired Pointer defense led by Mateo Correia s big night solo tackles two assists six tackles for loss led the way Owen Ice five tackles three assists and Braeden Bartocci five tackles two assists limited the Dons running championship to a meager yards on carries a average And the Pointer pass defense was also very effective With Dons starting QB Brady Palmer out the Dogs defense dogged two backups for only total yards on of completions and one crucial interception That s only yards of total offense by a crew that has averaged per tournament passing and rushed for a total offense of yards per tournament Through seven games the Pointer defense is giving up only points per contest The majority of the Pointer offense came through the air as starter Ryder Watson was of for yards with one interception and Henry Heuser was of for yards and the game-winning touchdown The Dons opened the scoring late in the first period when after converting a fourth-and-one play they drove to the Pointers before scoring on a quarterback keeper and taking a - lead Taking the Cathedral kickoff the Pointers then moved downfield methodically picking up yardage and first downs until facing a third-down at the Dons five-yard-line Watson scooped up a low snap sized up the defense and broke for the left corner of the end zone diving in from the one for the tying tally with left before intermission A critical moment late in the third quarter took place when the Dons advanced into the Pointers red zone before the defense held and their field goal attempt sailed wide left Then with left in the final quarter the championship s key play came on a third-and-long play from the Dons Heuser threw a pass to tight end Leo Sahd over the middle Sahd was able to split the Dons defense and outcome the game-winner and after Ryan Cleator s second PAT the Pointers took a - lead Cathedral then went to the air mounting a furious comeback effort but that failed when Romeo Carter stepped in front of a Dons receiver and picked off the pass with just left The Pointer defense now has picks The Pointers ran a couple of plays before taking a knee as zeroes appeared on the scoreboard clock Sahd s scoring catch was his only reception of the championship while Carter seven catches yards was the top receiver with a -yard catch his longest Wade Mettler four catches yards was next with a long of yards Our defense stepped up like it has all year Price disclosed I m just so proud of our kids We advised them they would have to match their Cathedral s physicality and they did The way they rallied as a squad is just amazing It is a big win for the undertaking The way we stopped the run was the biggest key for me all night Price added We practiced on that all week Also putting pressure on their quarterbacks and the defensive stops Pointers San Diego Down - at halftime the Pointers responded with unanswered third-quarter points during the Oct win Watson and Heuser combined for yards passing Watson passed for two touchdowns one each to Carter and Mettler and ran for another On defense the Pointers intercepted six Caver passes Ice had four of those one short of the CIF single-game record Cleator ran his interception back yards for a touchdown Bartocci had nine tackles three for loss and a sack giving him to date Correia had seven tackles two for loss Kobe Kelly also had a sack Extra points The Pointers excursion for Eastern League games to Madison - - Oct and Christian - - Oct The regular season ends on Halloween night with a home contest against St Augustine All are p m kickoffs Pointer freshmen are - - in league after defeating Morse since San Diego High did not field a freshman squad and losing to Cathedral - The JV group stands at - - after whipping San Diego - and dropping a - decision to Cathedral