On Sept. 14, 2024, Jesuit High School Sacramento beat Christian Brothers High School 7-0 in Holy Bowl 53.

The game was dominated by defense from the very beginning. Jesuit had the first possession, but they fumbled the ball on the 3rd play of the game.The defense made up for it, however, by forcing a 4th down and then stopping CB’s fake punt. The two teams went on to trade possessions for the rest of the quarter.

The second quarter started off with a bang. CB threw a long pass, but the ball glanced off of their wide receiver’s hands. It was deflected two more times before it fell into the hands of cornerback Alex Dewar ’26, who ran it 27 yards to the endzone for a pick 6. Kicker Yudiel Mondragon ’26 made the extra point, putting Big Red up 7-0. Jesuit and CB traded possessions for the rest of the quarter before safety Ryan Reeves ’26 intercepted a long pass to close out the half.

In the third quarter, both teams struggled on offense and excelled on defense. CB picked off a Jesuit pass halfway through the 3rd. Multiple Jesuit players made key pass breakups throughout the quarter. But with less than a minute left in the quarter, CB found themselves near the Jesuit redzone. CB nearly scored on a wide open 30 yard pass, but the ball was dropped.

The possession carried over to the fourth quarter, where CB got as close as the two-yard line. However, a false start backed them up to the 7, and Jesuit continued to hold their ground. For 3 straight plays, Jesuit held CB in place through key defensive plays, including tackles for loss by linebacker Tyler Garcia ’25 and cornerback Alan Cordano ’25. Faced with a 4th and goal situation, CB decided to go for it. They attempted a short pass to the endzone that was broken up by cornerback Chris Effiong ’25, but he was flagged for pass interference. That didn’t shake him, however, as on the very next play, he tackled a CB receiver at the one-yard line, forcing a turnover.

“I just stayed true to my technique,” Chris said. “What my coaches taught me, stay inside, stay patient. I saw him break out, come back in. I knew I had that [tackle].”

With the ball in their hands, Jesuit was in the driver’s seat. Long runs by Alan and running back Victor Cubero ’25 extended the position and pushed Jesuit downfield. Jesuit did have to punt eventually, but they stopped CB one yard short of a 1st down. Finally, Jesuit ran out the clock, extending their Holy Bowl win streak to 5.

This victory marks the 36th time Jesuit has won the Holy Bowl and the 7th time they have held CB to 0 points. Defense was undoubtedly the key to winning the game, and Jesuit got contributions from all 11 players on the field.

“We all did our job,” Chris said. “We all rallied to the ball, tackled, made plays. That was definitely the main reason because we kept them to 0. I think that was [what] won us the game.”

With this win, Jesuit is now 3-0 on the season. While winning one of the biggest games of the season is always nice, Jesuit knows that there is a lot to learn from this game and a lot to improve on moving forward.

“[We want to] improve on the day to day,” Alan said. “Not just waiting for game day to turn on that game day mode. We need to turn that game day face on from Monday. Bring the energy in practice, fix the little things, and improve on our mistakes.”

Jesuit’s next game is at home on Friday, Sept. 20, against Granite Bay High School, who is also 3-0. This will mark Jesuit’s second game under the new stadium lights and its first league game in the Sierra Foothill League. Tickets can be bought here.