St. Ignatius celebrates their 17-13 victory over Monte Vista, in the CIF NorCal Division 3-AA championship game at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, Calif., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Karl Mondon for the Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO — When JaJuan Lawson begins scouting an opponent, the first thing he watches is how that opponent kicks the extra point following a touchdown. To Lawson, the identity of a team is ingrained in how they handle their point after attempts.
On a chilly Friday night in San Francisco, St. Ignatius narrowly defeated Monte Vista 17-13 in the Division 3-AA NorCal final as the Wildcats’ special teams unit provided an edge on a night where both teams were so evenly matched.
Along with senior Thomas McKeon’s 34-yard field goal, the Wildcats blocked two kicks — one field goal and one point after attempt — to prevent the Broncos from ever tying the game. Now, Lawson’s group will head to Southern California to face Ventura for the 3-AA state title.
“The job’s not done,” Lawson said. “We felt like last year, when we won CCS, we were almost content with it. NorCal was just the cherry on top. But the cherry on top is winning state this year. We understand that we’re in December. We’re playing this long; we might as well go finish the job.”
Monte Vista senior quarterback Ian Ondricek put on a dazzling performance on a night where offense was at a premium. Along with completing 17-of-24 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns, Ondricek routinely made something out of nothing with his legs and scrambled for 92 yards.
“There’s not a kid that plays harder than he does,” said Monte Vista head coach Joe Wingert. “He might make a mistake on what he’s doing, but he’s going 110 miles per hour. After two carries, he’d be gassed and he’s in phenomenal shape. That’s how hard he was running. I’m really proud of him and proud of the whole team.”
For St. Ignatius, senior running back Steve Malone had a rushing touchdown while senior quarterback Caedon Afsharipour connected with senior wide receiver Zui Shelton for a 31-yard touchdown.
Neither team cracked the scoreboard in the first quarter as both offenses struggled to find their footing.
The Wildcats punted on their second possession but received new life when the ball touched a player on the Mustangs. Monte Vista erased that mistake junior Justin Grisham came up with an interception on the next play, but St. Ignatius’ senior Brady Hughes responded by hauling in an interception of his own to set up his team’ first score.
Beginning with 4.9 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Wildcats orchestrated a 14-play, 7:25 long drive that ended with four straight runs by Malone, the last of which was a three-yard dash into the end zone that gave St. Ignatius a 7-0 lead.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Wildcats doubled their lead to 14-0 on their next possession as Afsharipour evaded being sacked before delivering a pass to a wide-open Shelton on a broken coverage for a 31-yard touchdown pass.
In the waning moments of the first half, Monte Vista finally had its response. With less than five seconds remaining in the first half, Ondricek found junior Caden Boscia for a 21-yard touchdown pass to cut St. Ignatius’ lead to 14-7.
Monte Vista carried that momentum right into the second half as they scored another touchdown — but came up short of tying the game.
On third-and-six at the Wildcats’ 17-yard line, Ondricek received the snap and took several hard steps to his right as if he was going to scramble before pulling off a Derek Jeter-esque junp pass and throwing across his body to the awaiting hands of senior Chase Wuischpard, who sprinted up the sideline and into the end zone.
Despite Ondricek’s highlight play, St. Ignatius blocked the point after attempt to maintain a slim 14-13 lead. The Mustangs nearly took the lead in the final seconds of the third quarter, but the Wildcats blocked the 36-yard field goal attempt. On the ensuing possesion, McKeon connected on 34-yard field goal that extended the lead to four points.
The Wildcats nearly had the dagger with two-and-a-half minutes remaining when Malone ripped off a 46-yard touchdown run, but the play was called back due to holding. St. Ignatius was forced to punt, but the Wildcats’ defense forced a turnover on downs to seal the win.
“We understand that in championship games, it’s not clean football because you have two really good teams,” Lawson said. “We understand there’s no reserves left. You’re emptying the tank on both sides of the football because you’re not promised tomorrow.
“You’re going to make great plays, you’re going to have bad plays. You’re going to have times where you think you won the game, and the game … is still rolling. Our boys play hard. They fight until the end, and I guess we’re making a trip down to L.A. next week.”
