Football Preview: Paraclete Spirits vs. Cathedral Phantoms
Two dominant signal callers in Joseph Mesa and Jaden Jefferson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Paraclete Spirits will take on the Cathedral Phantoms at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Paraclete is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 29 points per game this season.
Paraclete will head into Friday's contest hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big back in September (they won by 22) but on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 30-28. The win was familiar territory for the Spirits who have now won three matches in a row.
Paraclete's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Mesa, who threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 13.6 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 35 yards. Mesa's passing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 307 passing yards. A healthy portion of that aerial production (106 yards to be exact) went to Savaughn Gentle, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Cathedral). They took their matchup on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 50-6 win over Bishop Alemany. Given the Phantoms' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 50th, while the Warriors are ranked 207th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Jefferson, who threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and also rushed for 71 yards on only six carries. Another player making a difference was De?Andre Dukes Jr., who rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
Paraclete's victory bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Cathedral, their win bumped their record up to 5-1.
We should be in store for an exciting game as both have no problem gaining yardage. Paraclete has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 453.2 total yards per game. However, it's not like Cathedral struggles in that department as they've been averaging 387.8. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Paraclete strolled past Cathedral when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a score of 21-7. The rematch might be a little tougher for Paraclete since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
