The Christian Brothers varsity football team finished the season 7-4 overall and 4-2 in league. Overall, it was a bittersweet season for the Falcons, as they won the Holy Bowl for the first time in nine years but got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round for the second straight season. Their signature win came against rival Jesuit, as they won a close battle 30-27 and defeated the Marauders for the first time this decade. The turning point in the season was a last second loss to Vista del Lago 34-28. The loss took the Falcons out of league championship contention and gave them a lower seed in the Sac Joaquin Section Division III Playoffs. The Falcons finished third in the Capital Athletic League behind Vista and Capital Christian. The Falcons were left disappointed after another first round loss to the Yuba City Honkers, the second straight year the Honkers eliminated the Falcons in the playoffs.
Quarterback Jacob Stewart ‘21 finished this season with 1919 yards on a 62% completion percentage with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also ran for 184 yards and 8 touchdowns. He finished this season with the exact same amount of passing yards as he finished last season, but with a higher completion percentage and less interceptions. He was only a junior, so he will return to the Falcons for his senior season next year.
Reed Mercer ‘20 and Justin Douglas ‘21 headlined the running game for the Falcons this season. Reed finished with 121 carries for 471 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Justin finished with 98 carries for 362 yards and 10 touchdowns. Luke Jones ‘20 was the Falcons best all purpose player this season, finishing with 70 receptions for 834 yards and 9 touchdowns while also rushing for 113 yards and 7 touchdowns. Bryan Garrett ‘21 was also a consistent threat in the passing game, finishing with 46 receptions for 603 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Linebacker Justin Douglas ‘21 led the way on the defensive side of the ball with 80 total tackles, including 25 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. Reed Mercer ‘20 (16 TFL, 2 sacks) and Sawyer Hays ‘21 (10 TFL, 2 sacks) were also consistent pass rushing threats. Safety Cole Mellor ‘21 finished the season second on the team in tackles, while leading the team in pass deflections (4) and tying for the lead in interceptions (1). CJ DeShong '21 lead the team in takeaways on the season with 1 interception and 3 fumble recoveries.
The Falcons will head into next season with some notable losses, including probable team MVP Luke Jones '20 and top running back Reed Mercer '20. They will also lose cornerback Caylen Walker ‘20 and some key pieces on the offensive line, including center Rafael Burgos ‘20 and Julian Rodriquez ‘20. They will lose kicker Jackson Ryan ‘20, who finished the season 42 for 48 on PAT’s and a perfect 5 for 5 on field goals.
The Falcons will return starting quarterback Jacob Stewart '21, as well as most of their receiving core, led by Bryan Garrett ‘21, John Michael Berger ‘21 and Logan Wurm ‘21. They will also return number two running back and tackles leader Justin Douglas ‘21, takeaways leader CJ DeShong '21, starting safeties Cole Mellor ‘21 and Lemisio Vaea ‘21 and key pieces on both the offensive and defensive lines.
The Falcons will head into next season looking to win the Capital Athletic League for the first time since 2017 and get back to the section championship for the first time since 2016.
All stats courtesy of MaxPreps.com.