On the evening of October 21, 2011, the Sacred Heart Cathedral Fighting Irish football team was looking to end a six year drought against the cross town rival, Saint Ignatius Wildcats. When asked on what was needed to do in order to win this 118th annual rival game, senior running back Tino Miles said “the team has to be able to counter every time they were punched in the mouth.” However, the Irish were never put in that position. As soon as the opening kick off commenced, the Fighting Irish went for the knockout and never let the Cats revitalize.
Senior quarterback Jack Harrington led the opening drive and marched down the field with ease, ending with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Miles. When the Irish defense took the field for its first stint of the night, they pressured the Cats to three consecutive incomplete passes, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Irish.
When Harrington could not pass or run the ball as the quarterback during the second drive, he stayed on the field as a kicker, connecting on a 27-yard field goal to put the Irish up 10-0 at the start of the second quarter. On the following drive, he reached the red zone and capped it off with a 7-yard touchdown pass to senior Zach Tapel. The Irish governed the whole first half, only giving up a touchdown as the Irish went into the locker room with a 17-7 halftime lead.
SHCP’s defensive intensity carried over into the second half, as they were able to stop the Cats’ first three drives, including a fearsome tackle by Jeivon Parker that led to a fumble at the SHCP red zone.
They also exploded on offense, as Miles ran for more than 200 yards in the second half, including a 43-yard touchdown run. Senior running backs Viliami Uikilifi and Jordan Gomes got a piece of the pie as well as they both reached the end zone in the fourth quarter. At the end of the night, the Irish dominated and got the long-awaited victory, 38-14.
The team handled the game differently than it did last week against the St. Francis Lancers, committing no turnovers and never giving the Cats a chance to claw back into the game.
“It was all a matter of who wanted it more, and tonight, every single one of them wanted it more than the other team. I’m very proud of them,” said first-year varsity defensive coordinator, Layman Reid.
Not only is the Fighting Irish one step closer to bringing the coveted Bruce-Mahoney trophy back to Ellis street, they have also clinched the CCS playoffs for the first time since 2008 – Dasarte Yarnway’s last year before his current tenure with the Cal Bears. Miles claimed that he would fill the shoes of Yarnway in order to bring the team back to the playoffs…and his performance has not disappointed, as he is proving to be a capable heir to the running back position that Yarnway has left behind.
“It’s on us to win the rest of our WCAL schedule. We’re going to have to have short-term memory. Other teams are going to score, and we have to forget about it,” said Miles. “It’s up to us to respond.”
