Cate quarterback Kyle Mayfield has been tremendous all season for this team.
On Saturday, in the Rams’ biggest game of the year, he came through again, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for three in a 46-26 win at top-ranked Thacher in a Condor League eight-man football game in Ojai.
“He’s been doing it all year and he came up big today,” said Cate coach Ben Soto of his senior.
Mayfield rallied the Rams after Thacher scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to take an 18-14 lead. He threw a 9-yard pass to Austin Gallegos to put them back into the lead at 21-18 and then made a huge play just before the end of the first half.
With 16 seconds to go, Mayfield went for broke and stunned Thacher with a a 49-yard touchdown pass to Gallegos to put Cate up 28-18.
“We decided to take a shot and it worked,” Soto said. “It was a big play in the game.”
It was a huge psychological boost for the Rams. They held Thacher to one touchdown in the second half.
Mayfield ran for two scores in the third quarter and Erik Lowe kicked a 37-yard field goal in the final period.
The Rams got off to a great start, opening up a 14-0 lead on a 29-yard run by Max Vasquez and a 21-yard pass from Mayfield to Max Wankner.
The defense was led by linebackers Michael Martinez and Gallegos and linemen Abraham Tall and Warren Giles.
“To hold them to eight points in the second half is a great job,” said Soto, who heaped praise on his defensive coordinator Richard Alvarado. “He did one helluva job creating a defensive scheme. It was an excellent job.”
