On Friday, November 1, the Fightin' Irish football team took on the St. Ignatius Wildcats at Kezar Stadium in the second leg of the 2024-25 Bruce Mahoney Trophy. SHC fought tooth and nail with SI, determined to win the huge rivalry game. Unfortunately, the Irish would come up a bit short after SI scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, leading to a 45-28 Wildcats win. 

The Wildcats received the opening kickoff and made their way downfield, with SHC's defense holding them to a field goal. On the Irish's first possession of the game, Sacred Heart Cathedral quarterback Michael Sargent '26 threw the ball downfield on third and long for a massive 45-yard gain, followed shortly by a touchdown, which gave the Irish a 7-3 lead. The rest of the first half was a bit of a struggle for SHC as SI got a field goal and a touchdown. Still, in the final couple minutes of the second quarter, wide receiver Zion Secrease '27 caught a perfect Sargent throw in the endzone to close the gap and end the half, 14-17. 

Sargent was spectacular throughout the game, completing 14 of his 19 passes for 329 yards and four total touchdowns. Coming back from halftime only down three points, SHC got the ball but could do nothing with it, and the Wildcats went down the field and scored again. Just when the SHC crowd thought the game was over, Michael Sargent threw the ball downfield into the arms of wide receiver O'Byran Flanigan '27 for a 74-yard touchdown. Flanigan had an outstanding game, racking up 161 receiving yards and two touchdowns. As the Irish crowd roared, the team finished the quarter, holding off the SI offense on third down. SI managed another touchdown in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, but Sargent came through again with another epic play, resulting in an additional touchdown for SHC. Unfortunately, that was all the Irish could do, and a couple more touchdowns for the Wildcats finished off the win for St. Ignatius.

Congrats on a hard fought contest. 

GO IRISH!!!