St. Ignatius survived a late drive by Monterey and held on for a 28-21 in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs Saturday afternoon in San Francisco.
The Toreadores came close to possibly tying the game with just over a minute to play, but a pass in the end zone was ruled incomplete and the Wildcats (6-5) held on. St. Ignatius will take on top-seeded Pioneer, which hammered Saratoga, 56-21 Friday night.
Monterey (8-3) led 21-20 with just over six minutes remaining in the game on a 65-yard TD run by Akili Jones, but St. Ignatius answered quickly on a 77-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Hagfeldt to Chad Johnstone. Brian Vollert ran in the two-point conversion to give the Wildcats a 28-21 lead.
It was a game of big plays for the Toreadores, who also scored on an 85-yard run by Jones and an 80-yard pass play from Carter Aldrete to Matthew Wright. However, Aldrete was picked off by SI's Freddie Gaines, who returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
Hagfeldt threw three touchdown passes for the Wildcats - one each to Johnstone, Danny Conte and Peter Alimam.
