All-around team effort leads Cathedral Catholic past Folsom 33-21 in CIF D1-AA State Championship game: 4 takeaways

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- After watching senior running back Lucky Sutton carry the team in last week's 71-62 win over Orange Lutheran, Cathedral Catholic got a

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- After watching senior running back Lucky Sutton carry the team in last week's 71-62 win over Orange Lutheran, Cathedral Catholic got a much more balanced offensive attack and saw their defense step up as they took down Folsom, 33-21, for the CIF D1-AA State Championship on Friday night.

Here are four takeaways from the game.

(Lead photo by Joe Bergman)

LUCKY SUTTON IMPRESSES AGAIN

By recent standards, Lucky Sutton had a quiet game. The senior running back broke free for a 73-yard touchdown run on the Dons’ second offensive play of the night and rushed 29 other times, finishing with 232 yards and a touchdown.

“The first run by Lucky I think kind of just set a tone,” Cathedral Catholic head coach Sean Doyle said.

Sutton’s final three games of the season will go down as one of the best stretches in San Diego Section history. 937 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns while going up against three of the state’s best teams.

After seeing what Sutton had done in previous weeks, Folsom’s focus certainly revolved around slowing down the talented back, which opened opportunities for others.

“When you put too much on one person then sometimes you forget about the others,” Doyle said. “But we’ve got a lot of weapons and it showed this year.”

IT WAS OVER WHEN

After Folsom scored a touchdown to cut the deficit to 26-21 with just over ten minutes remaining, Cathedral Catholic got to work from their own 20-yard line looking to close things out.

The Dons converted a fourth down and one from midfield before quickly finding themselves in the same situation from the Folsom 28-yard line. They snapped the ball quickly, getting behind quarterback Charlie Mirer looking to push him past the line when suddenly Mirer broke through the pile and sprinted away from the scrum for a 28-yard touchdown with 4:29 to play.

DONS CONTROL THE TRENCHES

As they have in most games this season, Cathedral Catholic was able to take advantage of their size and strength up front.

Offensively, the Dons rushed 52 times, 30 of them from star running back Lucky Sutton and did not lose yardage on any of them.

“Our offensive line is the best there is in the country and that’s all I’m gonna say,” quarterback Charlie Mirer said postgame.

The line provided all the time Mirer needed, completing four of the nine passes he attempted, twice finding senior receiver Rex Haynes for a touchdown.

Haynes battled injuries for much of the season but displayed his ability in the San Diego Section Open Division Championship game and has continued that in the two games since.

“(Rex) is healthy, he’s doing great,” Mirer said. “He’s a lot of fun to throw to, especially when he’s open.”

The Dons defense, led up front by Stanford commit Jaxson Moi, was able to get pressure on Folsom quarterback Tyler Tremain for much of the night.

“Our front four on defense did a phenomenal job,” Sean Doyle said. “(Tyler Tremain) was pressured all night, he did a great job putting the ball where he needed at times, but they came up when they needed it.”

The Dons were able to force Folsom into a turnover on downs on their final drive, allowing Cathedral Catholic to run out the clock and begin the celebrations.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP NUMBER THREE FOR THE DONS

Sean Doyle captured his first CIF State Championship with the Dons in 2008, beating Stockton St. Mary’s and once again beat the Rams in 2016 for his second title.

The Dons tasted defeat in the 2018 state title, falling to Folsom, 21-14, in overtime in the 1-AA title game. Despite the roster turnover for both teams since then, the 2018 game was on the mind of the Cathedral Catholic players as they headed into Friday’s matchup.

“We’re pretty close with that class and my older brother played in that game,” Mirer said. “We’ve called this season the ultimate revenge tour.”