Football Preview: St. Paul Swordsmen vs. Cathedral Phantoms
St. Paul is 0-6 against Cathedral since October of 2014 but things could change on Friday. The St. Paul Swordsmen will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cathedral Phantoms at 7:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a four-game winning streak alive.
If St. Paul beats Cathedral with 31 points on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. St. Paul had just enough and edged Paraclete out 31-28. Given the Swordsmen's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 77th, while the Spirits are ranked 201st), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
St. Paul found their leader in sophomore Marley Luatua, who rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.1 yards per carry. Those 171 rushing yards gave Luatua a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Gabriel Castaneda, who rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
St. Paul was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 249 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 200 rushing yards in five consecutive matchups.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to St. Paul's defense and their four sacks. Leading the way was Tupu Toloai with two.
Meanwhile, Cathedral was able to grind out a solid victory over St. Francis on Friday, taking the game 21-14.
Cathedral found their leader in sophomore Jaden Jefferson, who rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries, and also threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Jefferson's longest rush was for an impressive 68 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
St. Paul pushed their record up to 6-3 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Cathedral, their victory bumped their record up to 8-1.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. St. Paul has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 201 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Cathedral struggles in that department as they've been averaging 151.9. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
St. Paul came up short against Cathedral in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, falling 28-21. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Jefferson, who threw for 207 yards and three touchdowns while completing 86.4% of his passes, and also rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Now that St. Paul knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
