Cate’s 8-man football team took a quarter of its season opener to warm up on Saturday night before getting going in the second quarter against East Valley High. But after John Basar broke the ice with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Max Vasquez with six minutes until halftime, the Rams found a groove on their way to a 52-0 victory.
Cate had two quarterbacks with a pair of touchdown throws in the first half. Basar also connected with Nik Pajouh for a 54-yard screen pass that resulted in another TD. Michael Nettesheim added to the scoring by finding Dean Smith for two more touchdowns before halftime. Cate used three quarterbacks in the game with Iman Fardghassemi taking snaps as well.
After the game remained scoreless for the first 15-plus minutes, Cate quickly built a 28-0 lead by halftime.
Smith, Vasquez and Masaki Kondo topped off Cate’s day with second-half rushing touchdowns. The coaching staff gave credit to Zach Ell, Peter Kim, Kian O’Connor and Gair Pearson for quality blocking and controlling the game’s tempo.
“The defense continued the shut out in the second half thanks to strong play from Abraham Tall and Carlos Fairbanks,” reported Rams assistant coach Dave Soto.
“It was a great way for us to start the season. Once we were able to shake off our pregame jitters, we performed very well.”
Cate’s next game is a Friday night affair at Orcutt Academy. The Rams don’t host their home opener until September 28.
