HS Football: ‘Gritty Mitty’ stays undefeated with win against defending state champions
SAN FRANCISCO — Archbishop Mitty kept their perfect record alive with a dominant win to kick off their West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) slate.
The Monarchs turned a halftime deficit into a comfortable 32-21 victory over Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday night at Kezar Stadium with a dominant second half performance on both sides of the ball. Mitty moves to 4-0 with the Irish at 2-2.
After winning just one game last season, this crew of upperclassmen wasted no time planning for a better year to follow. They were meeting by Thanksgiving and working out. They came up with a mantra, “Gritty Mitty,” and refocused.
“We’re a pretty hard-nosed, hard-working group,” head coach Danny Sullivan said. “The biggest thing is these kids like each other. That helps, too.”
It took a hard-nosed approach to beat the Irish, but also a ton of chemistry. Senior quarterback Wills Towers connected primarily with top receivers Danny Scudero and Ben Kim to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into an 11-point win.
After a scoreless first quarter, Sacred Heart scored first on an RL Miller pick-six on their own 28 yard line. Mitty answered with a 20-yard touchdown reception for Kim to even the score. But with 30 seconds left in the half, Sacred Heart star Jerry Mixon ran back the kick 97 yards for a touchdown.
But Mitty owned the second half, opening with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Towers to Scudero — with a failed two-point conversion to follow — to make it 14-13.
Senior cornerback Justice Toavalu intercepted Sacred Heart quarterback Aidan McGrath’s pass attempt to Miller, setting up for a 65-yard touchdown reception for Scudero. Though another two-point conversion failure made it 19-14, it gave Mitty their first lead of the game before the fourth quarter began.
Mitty opened the fourth quarter with another interception, this time by senior linebacker Diego Aguilar. Junior running back AJ Cenizal’s eight yard touchdown run made it 26-14. And Mitty kept adding on.
Senior receiver Charlie Butler made a spectacular 38-yard diving catch to help set up the six-yard receiving touchdown by Kim (and another two-point conversion fail) to make it 32-14.
“We made big catches when we needed to,” Sullivan said. “Big throws when we needed to, but the line took over and did their thing.”
Mitty’s defense held Sacred Heart Cathedral scoreless in the second half until the final three minutes, when Miller’s touchdown reception made it 32-21 and the Irish recovered an onside kick at the 46 to get Mitty hearts racing.
On fourth down, McGrath scrambled from the collapsed pocket to find Miller for a 30-yard reception. But Miller dropped a potential touchdown pass and Mitty put up a wall at the red zone. The Irish couldn’t score as clock wound down to zero.
“There was no panic in our guys, we knew we could do it,” Sullivan said. “I didn’t like the stuff at the end, my heart can’t take that. If we can avoid the unnecessary stuff at the end, it’s all good.”
It will be an even tougher test for Mitty next week, as the Monarchs head to San Mateo to face the Serra, the top team in Northern California, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night (the Padres’ only Friday night home game). Sacred Heart Cathedral will head south to San Jose and face Valley Christian at 6 p.m. on Saturday.