On October 28th, our football team faced off against the Wildcats of Saint Ignatius in the first game of the 70th annual Bruce Mahoney, a best-of-3 series in honor of two men, Bill Bruce and Jerry Mahoney. Throughout the year, Sacred Heart Cathedral and Saint Ignatius face off in 3 different sports: football, basketball, and baseball. The school that prevails in 2 out of 3 of these sports brings home the coveted Bruce-Mahoney trophy.

At promptly 7:00, the Bruce-Mahoney commenced. A deafening roar sounded through the crowd as the ball soared through the air on the opening kickoff, SHC’s special team ready to make the return. The excitement and energy that surrounded the kickoff slowly began to fade as the first couple of drives were uneventful, both resulting in punts. Suddenly, with 6:48 remaining in the first quarter, a loud cheer exploded from the crowd as SHC’s Anthony Heard ‘19 ran a whopping 57 yards to the endzone for the first touchdown of the game. The extra point was up and good, and just like that the Fightin’ Irish had the momentum. However, the excitement was short-lived, as Saint Ignatius fought right back, scoring a touchdown of their own, shortly before the first quarter wrapped up with a score of 7-7.

A couple of minutes later, the second quarter was underway, and the teams were back at it, battling to put points on the board. The second quarter started off quietly, as both defenses held their ground firmly. Finally, after half a quarter of struggling offenses, multiple turnovers, anxiety on both sides, and very few first downs, the Wildcats managed to score another touchdown, giving their defense a bit of insurance. Everything snowballed out of control for the Fightin’ Irish as the Wildcats began to take control of the game. Over the next 9 and a half minutes of play, the Wildcats scored 3 more touchdowns, despite the valiant efforts of the Fightin’ Irish, and by the midpoint of the 3rd quarter, Saint Ignatius led by a score of 35-7. With 3:55 remaining in the 3rd quarter, the Fightin’ Irish finally struck again, with a 39 yard pass from Will Irons ‘18 to Areon Mitchell ‘18. Before the end of the game, our team managed one final touchdown with another pass from Will Irons ‘18 to Areon Mitchell ‘18, this time a 20 yard completion. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late, and when the the clock hit zero, the scoreboard read Saint Ignatius 42, Sacred Heart Cathedral 21.

Despite a disappointing loss, our sights are already set on the future, when our Fightin’ Irish take to the hilltop on January 10th to level the playing field and send this series to a third and final game.