Santa Fe Christian Remains Undefeated, Claims Division 2 Championship
CHULA VISTA – The Santa Fe Christian football team is still perfect, despite a hard-fought victory that wasn’t without its challenges.
The Eagles improved to a flawless 13-0 with a 44-41 win over Steele Canyon on Friday night, securing the CIF San Diego Section Division 2 championship before an estimated crowd of 4,700 at Southwestern College.
This victory marks the highest division title in school history for SFC – the No.1 seed – and sends them to the Southern California Regionals, with pairings to be announced Sunday afternoon.
Steele Canyon, the No. 2 seed, concludes its season with a 9-4 record.
“It means the world,” SFC coach Jon Wallace said. “I’m so proud of thes kids. The fact that this tiny school (with 400 high school students) with small kids, we said whatever division you put us in, we can’t control. We just play the team you put in front of us.There is so much heart in that group of kids. I love those guys. I’m so proud of them.”
A dynamic first half saw Steele Canyon deliver with a pair of long plays: an 80-yard pass from quarterback Gavin Caha to Jacob Henton and a 99-yard kickoff return by Nico Jara. Despite these scores, the Cougars trailed 30-14 at halftime.
Santa Fe Christian opened the scoring with an 8-yard pass from Dax Labrum to Chase Woolley. SFC added touchdowns on a 7-yard pass from Labrum to Brandan Scott, and a 28-yard pass from labrum to Brady Berg. The Eagles also benefited from field goals of 21, 37, and 43 yards by Scott.
SFC extended thier lead to 37-20 with 4:55 remaining in the third quarter, as Labrum connected with Woolley for a 51-yard touchdown pass.
Steele Canyon battled back, narrowing the gap to 37-34 and then 44-41 with 4:30 left on a 3-yard run by Abel Lopez.
Though, SFC responded with a 16-yard kickoff return from Cruz Campbell, followed by a 15-yard roughing penalty against Steele Canyon. The Eagles then secured three first downs, forcing Steele Canyon to use all its timeouts, and Labrum sealed the win with a game-ending kneel down.
SFC consistently gained beneficial field position through several long kickoff returns.
“I guess I’ve got to fire our special teams coach, but that’s me,” said Steele Canyon coach Scott Longerbone. “It was terrible tackling, guys were out of their lanes. It was just poor execution.”
Steele Canyon managed only 57 rushing yards on 22 attempts, while Caha completed 15 of 24 passes for 272 yards. Josiah Stocker was a key target, with eight receptions for 138 yards and a 38-yard touchdown.
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