Football Recap: St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy Comes Up Short

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy fought the good fight in their overtime game against St. Paul on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They were just a hair shy of victory and fell 35-34 to the Swordsmen. The Warriors were not able to make up for their loss to the Swordsmen from their previous meeting back in October of 2024.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Paul to victory, but perhaps none more so than Gabriel Castaneda, who rushed for 60 yards and three TDs on only seven carries, and also threw for 142 yards on 11 of 20 attempts. The Swordsmen are 2-1 when Castaneda posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 0-5 otherwise. Another back making a difference was Jace Levario, who rushed for 85 yards and one touchdown on only six carries.

This is the second loss in a row for St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy and nudges their season record down to 3-5. Those defeats can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 31.5 points over those games. As for St. Paul, their win bumped their record up to 2-6.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming contests. St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy will venture away from home to square off against Cathedral at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Warriors will need to watch out since the Phantoms have now posted at least 31 points in their last three matchups. As for St. Paul, they are taking a road trip to take on Bishop Alemany at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Swordsmen will be up against the Warriors' rather soft defense (which has allowed 35.5 points per game), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance.