The Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory Fightin' Irish will square off against the St. Ignatius College Preparatory Wildcats at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory not only won on Saturday, but they posted their biggest win since September 26th (when they won 71-14). They really took it to Santa Teresa for the full four quarters, racking up a 63-27 victory. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 35-13.
Michael Sargent
| 11/22/25 vs Santa Teresa | 26 |
| 11/15/25 vs Wilcox | 17 |
| 11/07/25 vs St. Ignatius College Preparatory | 24 |
| 10/31/25 vs Saint Francis | 23 |
| 10/17/25 @ Archbishop Mitty | 13 |
| + 3 more games |
It was another big night for Michael Sargent, who threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns while completing 77.3% of his passes, and also punched in a pair of TDs on the ground. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in November of 2024. Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory's leading receiver Chase Jenkins was Sargent's top target yet again, picking up 155 receiving yards and two scores.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 243 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their rushing yard total in seven consecutive games.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory's defense and their three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Mattie Barden, Elliot Beach, and Tristin Forks, who each picked up one sack apiece.
Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, St. Ignatius College Preparatory rose to the challenge on Friday. They blew past the Knights 42-6. The win was nothing new for the Wildcats as they're now sitting on four straight.
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory better keep an eye on Caedon Afsharipour. He was instrumental in St. Ignatius College Preparatory's win, throwing for 181 yards and five TDs while completing 86.7% of his passes. Afsharipour's passing game has become a key predictor of the Wildcats' success: the team is 2-1 when his passer rating is 110 or higher, but only 4-5 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Zui Shelton, who picked up 72 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns.
St. Ignatius College Preparatory didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Shermar Noriega and Jack Farrell.
The victory got St. Ignatius College Preparatory back to even at 6-6. As for Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, the win also got them back to even at 6-6.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's contest: Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 393.8 total yards per game. It's a different story for St. Ignatius College Preparatory, though, as they've been averaging only 228.2 total yards. Will Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will the Wildcats flip the script?
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory came up short against St. Ignatius College Preparatory in their previous meeting on November 7th, falling 23-14. Can the Fightin' Irish avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
