SAN FRANCISCO – If you like defense and low-scoring football, then the St. Francis-St. Ignatius game was the one for you.
Thanks to two safeties and a touchdown from junior running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio, the Lancers outlasted the Wildcats 11-8 in one of the ugliest games you’ll see all year.
The defenses shined brightly on Saturday afternoon, as St. Francis out-gained SI 135-123. Each team also had one interception.
The Cats were able to hold standout running back Habibi-Likio to short yardage for most of the game, but Habibi-Likio found a hole early in the first quarter, breaking a 62-yard touchdown run to give the Lancers an early 7-0 lead.
“My (offensive) line played hard, opened gaps, and made it easy for me,” Habibi-Likio said after the game.
Habibi-Likio finished with 96 rushing yards on 14 carries, and scored the only touchdown for the Lancers.
But in the second quarter, special teams, which was an issue all game long, hurt the Cats first. SI, which was experimenting with a new punter after early struggles with special teams, was forced to punt inside its own 20 yard-line. A bad snap led to the Wildcats falling on the ball in the end zone, and St. Francis found itself up 9-0.
Things would only get worse for St. Ignatius, as late in the second, SI botched another punt, and the ball was knocked out of the end zone for another safety.
Late in the third quarter, the Wildcats finally caught a break on special teams, as they blocked a Lancer field-goal attempt and recovered the ball all the way inside the St. Francis red zone.
After some dinking and dunking, senior running back Kela Butler pounded his way into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown rush. A 2-point conversion cut the St. Francis lead to 3.
“We really played hard, physical football,” SI coach John Regalia said. “We have to. That’s what we do. Those are the teams that we’re playing. St. Francis is no different.”
Butler finished with 53 rushing yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. He also caught two passes for 10 yards.
A late effort from the Cats was killed when junior cornerback Bennett Williams picked off Peter Katz’s pass, and the Lancers came away with the victory.
“This is a tough victory coming up here in the city on a Saturday against a very good team that is not reflective of their record,” said St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno. “And we knew that coming in. We knew that they would give us a great battle, and obviously that’s what it was. We battled till the very final play, and we’re very happy to be coming of out here with a victory.”
St. Francis (4-0, 1-0) puts its undefeated record on the line on Friday night at Valley Christian, which is also undefeated. That one kicks off at 7:30 pm.
As for St. Ignatius (0-4, 0-1), the Wildcats will try to pick up their first win of the season at Kezar Stadium on Friday night against Sacred Heart Cathedral in the first installment of the annual Bruce-Mahoney rivalry.
