MOUNTAIN VIEW — Among the postgame handshakes, greetings, and hugs among St. Francis players, coaches, parents, and friends on Brother Fisher Field following the Lancers’ 35-7 season-opening loss to San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic on Friday night, were acknowledgements and mutterings of, “That was a good team.”
In the counter to that, at least in the words of coach Greg Calcagno, was that “We’ve got to get better.”
St. Francis, ranked No. 4 in the Bay Area News Group Top 25, played host to a Cathedral Catholic team (2-0) ranked No. 2 in the San Diego Section by the San Diego Union-Tribune. But the visiting Dons, with plenty of speed and future Cal quarterback Brady Palmer, showed big-play capability while scoring the first two touchdowns and building a 28-7 halftime lead.
St. Francis plowed forward, largely on the legs of junior running back Motu Keanaaina, brother of graduated superstar Kingston, but Cathedral Catholic consumed yardage at will – a quick-snap quick-pass to the outside for a 44-yard touchdown on its first series, a 62-yard deep throw on its next.
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When St. Francis closed the gap to 14-7 on a twisting diving 32-yard back-shoulder touchdown grab by Sefanaia Alatini in the second quarter, Cathedral Catholic immediately answered with a 95-yard kickoff return by Parker Johnson that deflated the momentarily buoyant Lancers.
Later in the quarter, Johnson caught a deep ball in stride on a streak behind the defense and completed an 80-yard play for a 28-7 lead.
Palmer passed for 201 yards in the first half and completed 12-of-18 for 260 yards in the game. The St. Francis offense was unable to match, and was held to 158 yards in all, including 55 on the ground.
“Tomorrow’s film session … we’ll take a lot of notes,” Calcagno said.
Simulating Cathedral Catholic’s speed in practice or trying to gauge it off film most likely did not accurately portray the danger at hand, but St. Francis held the Dons to a stalemate for the most of the second half and that’s something the Lancers can build on.
Junior strong safety Uate Pifeleti, in his first varsity game, intercepted two passes – each in the end zone – to stifle two drives. At the end of the first half, he timed his move perfectly, stepping into front of a pass drilled down the middle from 25 yards.
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“We watched a lot of film,” Pifeleti said of Cathedral Catholic’s 52-7 rout of Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista last week. “I read it, acted on it. And that’s what happened.”
There were other Lancer highlights as well, such as Sean McCoy’s two sacks and another by Sione Tonga. And Stanford commit Chase Cahoon had two tackles for loss. But St. Francis still allowed 439 yards, and that’s where those notebooks will come in handy.
St. Francis always schedules tough in nonleague play and plays at McClymonds next week, and both the Lancers and Cathedral Catholic have De La Salle to come.
Good teams all, but while the Lancers will nod in respect to Cathedral Catholic, they still must look in the mirror.
