Flintridge Prep football maintains perfect start with nonleague win against Cate
CARPINTERIA — Flintridge Prep eight-man football coach Russell White wasn’t happy with the six offside penalties, two pass-interference calls and three personal fouls his defense racked up in a nonleague game against Cate on Saturday.
But what the Rebels defense gave up, the offense made up for enough to keep the Rams from mounting a comeback.
Flintridge Prep adjusted to the penalties on its way to a 48-26 road victory against Cate to remain undefeated.
The Rebels’ 4-0 record matches its best start to a season since 2016 when it switched over to the eight-man format.
“There’s a lot of things you can coach, then there’s some things you can’t coach,” said White, who oversaw the program’s switch to eight-man. “It’s just high school football. You just have to keep reminding them that we keep giving them stuff. They’re not doing anything great. We’re giving it to them.
“They got better as the game went on. As long as they learn from their mistakes, we’ll be fine.”
Flintridge Prep quarterback Max Gitlin finished with 21 of 33 passing with four touchdowns and 285 yards. His go-to receiver was Rebels junior Zach Kim, who caught nine passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns as well as an getting interception on defense.
Rebels receiver Ben Grable added six receptions for 72 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Alexander Payne scored a rushing touchdown and had 20 carries for 96 yards and Kevin Ashworth contributed 101 yards and a score in 12 carries.
“We believe in our defense and they did their job today,” Gitlin said. “They’ve been doing it the entire season, so that’ll come. They did a great job today.
“Ben and Zach catch everything in the air and it makes it so much easier for a quarterback to have not just one, but two of those guys. They did a great job on both sides. They play like that every game.”
Though the Rebels defense needed discipline, the Rams were unable to convert on all four of their fourth down conversion attempts.
“Our motto this year was to stay resilient,” Kim said. “Eight men to the ball all the time. Referees are going to be referees. We can’t control that, but we just want to play our game — play fast, play strong.”
Flintridge Prep received good field position after the Rebels recovered a Rams fumble on the opening kickoff return, setting up on the Cate 26-yard line. Gitlin connected with Grable four plays later on a 25-yard pass to get the Rebels on the board on their opening drive at the 9:56 mark.
A 25-yard catch from Kim set up a five-yard run for Payne for the two-score lead before another Kim reception of 34 yards set up Rebels linebacker Germaine Harvey to score a one-yard touchdown for a 20-0 lead with 1:17 left in the first.
A roughing-the-kicker penalty on a fourth-down punt reset Cate with a fresh set of downs on the Rebels’ 32-yard line. Quarterback Will Bouma scored a 24-yard run two plays later to get the Rams on the board, 20-7, early in the second quarter.
An 11-yard touchdown run from Ashworth restored the three-touchdown lead for Flintridge Prep at 7:55 in the second. But the Rams pulled one back on a 34-yard touchdown catch from Mason Oetgen for a 27-14 score with 2:25 left in the half.
With a minute left in the first half, Gitlin pitched a 33-yard throw to Kim for his first touchdown catch to set up a 34-14 halftime lead.
The Rams cut the Rebels’ lead to 34-26 on another touchdown reception from Oetgen, this time a 23-yard reception with 10:05 left, after Flintridge Prep turned the ball over on downs on its first drive of the half.
The Rebels bounced back with Kim’s second touchdown reception on a 12-yard throw from Gitlin to put Flintridge Prep ahead, 41-26, with 5:21 left in the third.
Kim’s 23-yard catch on the Rebels’ next drive set up a one-yard touchdown reception for Grables second score of the game for the 48-26 lead at 1:38 in the third.