Seth Gilefsky is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Seton Catholic Preparatory.

 

Joyous fans streamed down from the bleachers. Parents ran to their children. Seton Catholic Sentinel football was back where Head Coach Pete Wahlheim hoped to be when he was rehired in 2019.

After the 36-14 domination of the Gila Ridge Hawks on Saturday, October 19, the Sentinels tripled its win total from last year with sixth win of the season.

Seton Catholic entered the game coming off of a thriller with the Independence Patriots the Friday prior, a game won by one score, 36-28. Gila River was riding high on a two-game winning streak entering Saturday’s clash after defeating Sierra Linda and Cibola at home but would face a different level of competition on the road against a Seton Catholic team that entered the game with a record of 5-2.

Senior running back Luc Aguilar led the Sentinels, entering the game with 14 rushing touchdowns and just under 1,200 rushing yards on the season. 

The rare Saturday game provided the challenge of staying focused for both sides, which was reiterated by Seton Catholic junior wide receiver, Bayley Mendoza. 

“It honestly did feel a little different,” Mendoza said. “Everyone was kind of sloppy in the first quarter, then we picked it up throughout the game.” 

The Sentinels returned the opening kickoff to the opposing 20-yard line, aided by a reverse that saw Aguilar turn the corner and accelerate down the sideline before he was pushed out of bounds. The drive stalled out and kicker Matthew Albanese made a 37-yard field goal giving Seton Catholic the early 3-point advantage. 

On the ensuing Gila Ridge drive and with the Hawks driving inside the Seton Catholic 10 yard-line, a poorly executed speed option created a fumble recovered by Sentinels senior free safety, Ian Ellis. 

“We’ve created turnovers all year, it creates short fields. It changes momentum. It seems like every time they started to get some life, we created a turnover, they are huge,” Wahlheim said after the game. 

Seton Catholic capitalized on the aforementioned turnover when quarterback Chase Dickson found a wide-open Taisi Alo in the back of the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown. The extra point was missed and the lead remained at single digits, 9-0. 

After yet another defensive spot, the Sentinels lined Aguilar up at wide receiver, who caught a screen pass, got giant blocks from his offensive lines and waltzed into the endzone extending the lead to 15. The gaping hole he could run through was a testament to the step taken by the offensive line this past offseason. 

“We’re a lot faster, and a lot more physical this year. I also think we just care; we care a lot about each other. So it means a lot more when we succeed,” senior offensive tackle Michael Probst said.

An interception from Mikaele Aisake resulted in a Mendoza rushing a touchdown right before the half, sending the Sentinels into the break up 22-0. 

Two more Aguilar touchdowns in the third quarter, runs of 15 and 65 yards, respectively, put the game on ice.

Seton Catholic led 36-0 and was able to rotate younger players in.

“The physicality just comes from knowing our job. We know what our job is. We’re able to just fly around and have fun,” Probst said. 

Gila Ridge added a pair of touchdowns late in the fourth quarter, making the final score 36-14 Sentinels. Coach Wahlheim said he was proud of his team’s performance at the end of the day.

“It’s 20 seniors versus five the last three years. It’s a senior class that’s been grinding. They’ve been through the fire with us," Wahlheim said. "They have played for three years getting pushed around. They committed to a great offseason and it has shown.”