Cate rallied from a 22-3 deficit and beat Chadwick, 62-44, in a non-league eight-man football game on a 100-degree Saturday in Palos Verdes.
Quarterback Mike Nettesheim threw four touchdown passes for Cate (3-1). Oliver Welsh caught two scoring strikes and Isaiah Washington ran for two of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the fourth-ranked team in Division 1 of eight-man football.
“This was one of the most well played ‘team’ games in the history of our program,” assistant coach Dave Soto said
The Rams started to claw back in the second quarter. Dean Smith scored on a 35-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Michael Nettesheim. Oliver Welch followed with a touchdown reception of his own. Chadwick answered with a score, but the Rams closed out the half with 10 unanswered points and was down 28-27 at the half.
The second half scoring got under way when Nettesheim scored on a 3-yerd QB sneak to give the Rams their first lead. But Chadwick answered right back with a 60-yard pitch and catch. The teams traded touchdowns once more. Welch caught his second TD pass for the Rams, who trailed 44-41 going into the fourth quarter.
Cate dominated the final quarter. Washington scored on a 3-yard run to put the Rams ahead for good. He added another score with about 4 minuets left in the game, and Keller Mochel capped the game with a 2-yard touchdown run with two minuets remaining.
The Rams’ defense was tough in the second half. Warren Giles, Musa Hakim and Robbie Preston contained Chadwick’s two very dynamic players in the second half. The Rams also got major contributions from Pierce Lundt, Aji Bodunrin, Jacob Meyer and Clinton Hall.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the fight our guys showed all game,” Soto said. “When we were down big early on, no one had their head down. It truly was a full team effort. They don’t get a lot of ‘stats love,’ but our defense was fantastic. Chadwick has two players who are as good as anyone we will see and our guys were welcome to the challenge.”
The Rams play at arch rival Thacher in Ojai next Saturday.
