Under new lights, St. Ignatius thumps Palo Alto in season opener
High School football: St. Ignatius Wildcats beat Palo Alto Vikings under the fog
SAN FRANCISCO — The new, permanent lights over the field at St. Ignatius cut through the heavy fog to illuminate Friday’s season opener between the Wildcats and Palo Alto Vikings. The big home crowd saw clearly a blowout for the home team.
The Wildcats look primed to be competitive in a stacked West Catholic Athletic League, beating Palo Alto 41-6 on Friday night. St. Ignatius returns with plenty of depth and experience coming off a 2021 season in which it went 5-7, finishing 2-5 in WCAL play and losing in a CCS Division II semifinal to Wilcox.
“We’re exactly where we thought we were, in some respects,” coach John Regalia said. “Definitely some first game mistakes, but plenty of first game excitement. First game energy and first game uncertainty. We expected all that.”
Senior quarterback Mac McAndrews completed all of his pass attempts, including three touchdown passes in the first half. He wouldn’t need to play in the second half. The Wildcats did all of their scoring in the first half, running up a 27-0 lead after the first quarter.
Dave DeGeronimo played with a short bench in his debut as head coach with Palo Alto as 26 of their 37 listed on the roster suited up. The Wildcats’ strength up front forced Palo Alto into a pair of costly bad snaps recovered by St. Ignatius.
The first, senior Colin Mulkerrins recovered at the Palo Alto 44-yard line to set up a goal-line rushing touchdown for junior Cameron Jones with the help of his first eight-yard carry and a 10-yard carry for McAndrews.
The second, recovered by sophomore Sui Hunkin, set up a 23-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open junior Moe Barnum to give St. Ignatius a 14-0 lead. The turnovers fueled the Wildcats’ first-half offense.
“That’s just us working a lot of rotations and being sharp,” Regalia, in his 12th season as the Wildcats’ head coach, said. “Even when some of those guys weren’t rotating, it’s about being sharp for four quarters. And that’s what we have to learn from and grow this week.”
The Wildcats defense held the Vikings behind midfield until the second quarter — when junior quarterback Declan Packer found senior receiver Kai Bussey down the sideline for a 27-yard reception. Palo Alto also couldn’t clear mid-field on special teams, either — a few short punts resulted in scores for the Wildcats.
Gus Parker was the beneficiary of both botched kicks. Starting at the Palo Alto 46-yard line, McAndrews found receiver Gus Parker on the second play for a 34-yard touchdown to give SI a 21-0 lead.
Palo Alto went three-and-out on its next possession and the punter shanked a kick after being hit. Parker found the live ball and ran it into the end zone for 24 yards and a touchdown to give the ‘Cats a 27-0 lead with the first quarter winding down.
Parker scored his third touchdown, breaking free of the defense for a 28-yard reception from McAndrews in the second quarter.
“Gus is a very dynamic athlete,” Regalia said. “He has great speed, great vision and great ability. So this is a good start for him and somewhat expected for him. He has high expectations for himself. Pushes himself, pushes us and raises our bar a little bit.”
St. Ignatius began to pull some starters before halftime, including McAndrew to give sophomore quarterback Soren Hummel into the game. Hummel completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to junior Ethan Arguelles before halftime.
Both teams went scoreless in a third quarter highlighted by a Wildcats interception by senior Dean Dollosso. Palo Alto got on the board with a few minutes remaining on a two-yard rushing touchdown by Jack Newman.