Jaden Jefferson let the glee of victory overtake his face as the clock expired. He grinned ear to ear. Winning wasn’t easy Friday night.
The Cathedral quarterback remembered the feeling of struggling as a young team a year ago. And while trailing St. Paul at halftime, that sinking sensation began to creep in.
“I’m talking to [my teammates] on the sideline, all day,” Jefferson said about trying to build momentum despite managing just a field goal in the first half and giving up a touchdown. “I’m just motivating, pushing them. You just got to go.”
He needed to turn the Phantoms’ tide, shift first-half disappointment into second-half success and channel the signal-callers who came before him. Eight years ago, future No. 1 NFL draft pick Bryce Young — a small, dual-threat quarterback himself — helped Catheral take down St. Paul en route to a league crown.
Now, it was Jefferson’s turn. Alongside his uncle, first-year Cathedral coach Vincent Jefferson and his father, offensive coordinator Jabari Jefferson, Jaden continued his sophomore stardom Friday night. His two touchdown passes and 201 all-purpose yards led Cathedral to a scrappy, 16-14 Angelus League title-clinching victory over St. Paul — the Phantoms’ first league title since 2018.
“I’m just extremely excited,” said Jaden, who has 32 total touchdowns. “We worked all year for this. We worked to win the league. Now, playoffs, CIF championships, here we come.”
St. Paul coach Mike Moschetti entered Friday with a goal: He needed to stop Jaden from controlling the game’s flow.
Moschetti made it work, at first. The Swordsmen (6-4, 4-1) slowed the game and had two nine-minute drives to enter the second half ahead, limiting the Phantoms to three drives in the half. However, Cathedral’s second-half adjustments allowed them to take control. Jefferson threw for touchdowns of 10 and 55 yards in the half, lifting Cathedral (9-1, 5-0).
“They were controlling the clock a lot in the first half,” Jefferson said. “We had to go in halftime, make some adjustments up front [and] try to slow them down a little bit to get our dynamic offensive ball back.”
St. Paul made mistakes — the Swordsmen had four personal fouls, including three in Cathedral territory. Despite this, the Swordsmen were in contention to win until the very end.
Junior quarterback Gabriel Castaneda, who scored two rushing touchdowns against Cathedral, drove to the 15-yard line to set up a potential winning field goal — a drive that included a 25-yard completion, his longest of the night.
As kicker Jesse Riperto lined up for a 32-yard attempt, the Cathedral sideline stood quiet.
Riperto’s kick sailed wide left. The game was over.
“That’s not that kid’s fault,” Moschetti said. “In the second half, they put it to us offensively. They shut us down.”
Jefferson darted to his teammates on the field as the ball missed the uprights. The slog of the first half was history and all that mattered was now.
He was an Angelus League champion.