Cate’s Max Vasquez races down the sideline on his way to his third touchdown of the game. (Presidio Sports Photos)
Max Vasquez scored three of Cate’s seven rushing touchdowns on Saturday as the Rams were able to run down Laguna Blanca 63-26 in a Condor League matchup in Hope Ranch.
Vasquez scored on runs of 71, 5 and 53 yards. His 71-yarder in the first quarter gave the Rams an 8-0 lead and set the tone for the rest of the day.
Cate’s John Basar races out of reach for an interception return to the endzone.
“Our line does an outstanding job of blocking and making the holes. They do it every game,” Vasquez said.
Nik Pajouh, Iman Fardghassemi and Dean Smith added first-half touchdowns on the ground. Clinton Hall’s 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave Cate a season high in points scored.
“Their O-Line is well-coached, and they’re quick off the ball, and they know what they’re doing,” credited Owls head coach Shane Lopes. “That’s a good football team we just played.”
After falling behind 15-0, Laguna Blanca started to show some life. The Owls hit pay dirt for the first time when quarterback Stephen McCaffery dropped a deep pass into the hands of Andrew Vignolo for a 47-yard scoring play.
The Rams responded just over a minute later on a 19-yard TD run by Fardghassemi, but Laguna Blanca came back with another score soon after on a 65-yard run by McCaffery that made the score 22-14 late in the first quarter.
The Owls stopped Cate’s offense for the first time on the Rams’ next possession, seemingly giving Laguna Blanca some solid momentum, but Cate snuffed it out when John Basar intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown.
“Our guys guys kept fighting – that’s why we’re proud of them – but it was definitely tough to respond to those big plays,” Lopes said.
The interception return was Cate’s first defensive touchdown of the season. Smith’s touchdown run on Cate’s next possession made the score 36-14 at halftime.
“We opened up some good holes today,” said Rams head coach Ben Soto. “All of our running backs ran hard. It was a good day for the offense.”
Cate’s biggest lead was 56-14 early in the fourth quarter.
“We played Cate Football,” Vasquez said. “We kept our heads cool and we were able to beat them playing a good football game so that was great.”
It’s the second time this season Vasquez has rushed for three touchdowns in a game. The senior has 12 TDs on the year.
Quentin Tedesco led Laguna in receptions and caught a touchdown pass on the final play of the game. McCaffery finished with two touchdown throws and two rushing scores.
The game was a matchup of top-10 teams in CIF’s 8-Man Division 1. No. 4 Cate improves to 4-1 while No. 6 Laguna Blanca falls to 3-2. Thacher is the top-ranked team in the Condor League at No. 3 in the division.
The result leaves the Rams 2-0 in league play while the Owls are 1-1.
“The Condor League is our playoff window. Right now, we’re 2-0 and if we just keep going on this streak we’ll be there,” Vasquez said.
Laguna Blanca’s Stephen McCaffery throws over the reach of Cate lineman Abraham Tall for a 47-yard touchdown to Andrew Vignolo on Saturday.
