Sonora vs. St. Pius X St Matthias Academy Championship Game Recap
Written by Zeb Drivdahl:
Long Beach, CA — The Sonora Wildcats defeated St Pius X St Matthias Academy Warriors 52-34 Saturday afternoon to capture the CIF Division 4A state championship.
Sonora received the opening kickoff and wasted no time putting points on the board. Eli Ingalls took the first play from scrimmage 30 yards down field on an option keeper, and 2 plays later Cash Byington found the endzone on a 25 yard run. The Warriors responded in kind, utilizing a series of quick passes and wide receiver screens to Jaylen Stokes for a touchdown drive of their own. The Wildcats answered, starting near midfield after a big kickoff return from Byington. A series of punishing runs from Tommy Sutton and a clutch 4th down conversion put the Wildcats into the red zone, and Ingalls punched it in on 3rd and goal. St. Pius moved the ball efficiently on their next drive, getting deep into Sonora territory before the Wildcat defense came up big. Steven Morfoot broke on a short pass and picked off Warriors quarterback Jassi Williams to end the threat. The Sonora offense then put together another long drive, capped this time by a run from Brody Speer on 4th and 1 that found the endzone and made the score 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Wildcat defense smothered the next St. Pius drive, forcing a punt from deep in Warrior territory. The next Sonora possession featured a steady diet of Tommy Sutton, another big 4th down conversion, and ended with a 1 yard dive from Sutton for the touchdown. St. Pius moved the ball well on their next drive, but stalled in Wildcat territory when they were unable to convert a 4th down. Sonora moved the ball quickly down field and as time expired in the first half, Emanuel Garibay kicked a 33 yard field goal for a 31-7 Wildcat lead at halftime.
St. Pius received the second half kickoff and began to attack the Sonora defense with a sense of urgency. Abandoning any pretense of the run, quarterback Jassi Williams began launching deep passes and found his mark. Three plays in 20 seconds had the Warriors in the redzone, but the Wildcat defense stepped again. This time it was Caden Burd who intercepted an under thrown ball from Williams to kill the drive. Three plays later the Sonora offense converted the turnover to points with an 87 yard touchdown pass from Ingalls to Byington. St. Pius would not go quietly however, resuming their deep passing attack and this time converting it in to points in under a minute of game time. The teams would trade touchdown drives for the remainder of the quarter, the Warriors getting two more and the Wildcats getting scores from Byington and Ingalls, ending the quarter with a score of 52-28. Sitting on a commanding 24 point lead at the start of the 4th quarter, the Wildcats worked to put the game away. Despite scoring no more points, Sonora had a pair of long drives that chewed through big chunks of the game clock. The Warriors managed one more touchdown and a late fumble recovery but came up well short as Sonora took home the title.
Steven Morfoot won the Faust Heating and Air Hot Hit of the game for a wicked hit delivered in pass coverage. Chicken Ranch Casino Player of the Game was awarded to the entire Wildcat coaching staff and players for a complete effort to bring home the title. Sonora ends the season with a record of 13-2, their third section title, and the first state title in school history.
