St. Augustine vs. Cathedral Catholic Preview: Players to Watch

The Holy Bowl is the biggest rivalry in San Diego and maybe even Southern California. The rivalry began in 1966 and has been played every year with the exception of 2007 when the game was canceled due to wildfires. Games between the two schools have been played at various venues including  San Diego Mesa College, Southwestern College, Balboa Stadium, Manchester Stadium at Cathedral Catholic, Aztec Bowl and even San Diego Stadium. This year, like many other years, St. Augustine and Cathedral Catholic are two of the best teams in San Diego. Below are some of the top players to watch for each team Friday. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25440" first="Misael" last="Sandoval"], St. Augustine, 2023</strong> Sandoval is one of the best offensive linemen in the San Diego Section and definitely the best in the class of 2023. He is massive at 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds. St. Augustine moves him from left and right tackle frequently and he blocks down on 3-technique defensive tackles in their power running game. He will be very important for the Saints’ offense Friday. https://twitter.com/xMisa_75/status/1357086190072070144?s=20 <hr /> <strong>Ayo Shotomide, St. Augustine, 2022</strong> One of the better athletes on the field on Friday who excels as a defensive back and a receiver. He had a big receiving touchdown and an interception in the Saints’ season opening win against Helix. He leads the team in all receiving categories although the Saints’ do not have a prolific passing offense. He will be facing excellent skill players from Cathedral and it will be interesting to see how he matches up. https://twitter.com/SDFNLMagazine/status/1370594257141075972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1370594257141075972%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fprepredzone.com%2F2021%2F03%2Fsouthern-california-top-defensive-performances-week-1%2F <hr /> <strong>Malcolm Williams, St. Augustine, 2021</strong> Williams is signed to the University of San Diego and is one of the better tacklers in the county. He moves very well for a linebacker who weighs over 230 pounds. He is an inside backer but has the ability to be an outside linebacker due to his agility and pass coverage ability. He will be very active against Cathedral Catholic. https://twitter.com/FOXSportsSD/status/1053428699024916480?s=20 <hr /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25239" first="Gracen" last="Halton"], St. Augustine, 2022</strong> Halton is the best two-way player for St. Augustine and the one of the best two college prospects in this game. He is verbally committed to Oregon and is the best underclassman defensive lineman in San Diego. He also plays running back where he has two rushing touchdowns on the young season. The four-star recruit is fun to watch and it will be interesting to see how Cathedral Catholic game plans around him. https://twitter.com/Daygofootball/status/1373118675578843140?s=20 <hr /> <strong><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/03/southern-california-top-rushing-performances-week-2/">Lucky Sutton</a>, Cathedral Catholic, 2022</strong> Sutton is the best running back in this game and one of the best running backs in San Diego county. He has 271 yards on just 33 carries with four touchdowns for the Dons, who have outscored their opponents 90-0. He has offers from Colorado State, Nevada, San Diego State and San Jose State. Sutton will be getting a lot of touches on Friday and it will be much tougher to get 9 yards per carry like he has been against the St. Augustine defense. <hr /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25296" first="Rex" last="Haynes"], Cathedral Catholic, 2022</strong> Haynes is the best deep threat receiver in this game and I think he is one of the elite route runners in Southern California. He has 231 yards on just six catches with three touchdowns this season, including a 70-yard touchdown. Quarterback <strong>Charlie Mirer</strong> clearly enjoys throwing to Haynes and he has a very big catch radius. https://twitter.com/SBLiveCA/status/1372216501411926018?s=20 <hr /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25320" first="Jaxson" last="Moi"], Cathedral Catholic, 2022</strong> Earlier when I mentioned that Halton was the one of the two best college prospects in this game, Moi was the other one I was referring to. He has 20 offers including most of the Pac 12 schools like USC and UCLA. He is athletic enough to be a 3-technique defensive tackle and strong enough to be a 1-technique. His versatility makes him hard to game plan for. It’s also impossible to replicate a player like Moi on a scout team in practice. His fellow defensive lineman <strong>Justin Sabbatini</strong> is very good as well. https://twitter.com/Giantskillz_RML/status/1357927869104574464?s=20 <hr /> <strong>Malachi Williams, Cathedral Catholic, 2021</strong> We highlighted a very good Cathedral Catholic defensive back a couple of weeks ago in <strong>Dee’Shon Swafford. </strong>Another senior key player for the Dons is safety Malachi Williams. Williams can play equally well in man and zone coverage and closes to the ball fast. He is not afraid to lay a big hit and takes good angles when defending the running game. He improved his game a lot during Pylon 7-on-7 tournaments this offseason and may garner some recruiting attention from smaller schools. https://twitter.com/Mali_0225/status/1329958485027504129?s=20