Football Preview: Cathedral Catholic Dons vs. Lincoln Hornets
Cathedral Catholic has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will welcome the Lincoln Hornets at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Cathedral Catholic is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Granite Hills: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Cathedral Catholic blew Granite Hills out of the water with a 52-6 final score. That 46 point margin sets a new team best for the Dons this season.
Brady Palmer had a dynamite game for Cathedral Catholic, throwing for 199 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and also punching in a touchdown on the ground. Another big playmaker for Cathedral Catholic was PJ Johnson, who returned a punt for a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Cathedral Catholic was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 216 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Granite Hills only rushed for 48.
Cathedral Catholic's defense made their presence known, laying out Zac Benitez. four times. The heavy lifting was done by Sidney Dupuy and Luke Westfall, who racked up all four sacks between them.
Meanwhile, Lincoln entered their tilt with Point Loma on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Pointers 42-0 at home. Given the Hornets' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Pointers are ranked 262nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Aden Jackson was his usual excellent self, rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries, while also catching a touchdown. Another player making a difference was Akili Smith Jr., who threw for 66 yards and three touchdowns.
Lincoln didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Dylon Dunn and Cammeron Purnell. Purnell is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. Another thorn in Point Loma's side was Jair Benjamin, who picked up two sacks and made five total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Cathedral Catholic pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Lincoln, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.
Friday's contest will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Jake Funderburg and Jackson. Funderburg has put up some stellar numbers this year, and currently owns excellent season averages 114.8 rushing yards per game this season. For his part, Jackson has averaged 127.6 rushing yards per game this season.
Cathedral Catholic suffered a grim 40-14 defeat to Lincoln in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Jackson, who rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns on only 12 carries. Now that Cathedral Catholic knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
