There was good news and bad news for the Pointer football team during last week’s Western League opener at Cathedral Catholic, a 50-14 Dogs loss. On the bright side, the Pointers scored twice, and their 14 points were the most scored against Cathedral by all other schools except Helix (a 44-41 Dons win).  On the downside, the Pointers’ starting QB fumbled and lost the ball three times in a span of just 1:24 the second quarter, each leading to Cathedral touchdowns. These 21 gift points increased their lead from 15-7 to 36-7 at halftime before the Cathedral homecoming celebration began. Subtracting those quick points still leaves Cathedral ahead 29-14 but gives a more accurate impression of a much closer game. The Pointer touchdowns came early and late in the game. The first came right after the Dons took an early 7-0 lead when the Pointer offense began moving the ball before Jason Peres found Kaden Gill uncovered on a 23-yard scoring play to briefly knot the score at 7-7. By the time the Dogs found the end zone again they were down 50-7 and the game was being played with a running clock as part of the CIF’s mercy rule. Backup QB Trey Cobb found Gill with another scoring pass, this time for a 10-yard score on the first play of the final quarter. While primarily being stalled in their ground game, the Pointers had some success through the air, with the two QB’s totaling 169 yards in addition to the two scores. “I’m really proud of our kids,” head coach Mike Hastings said on the sidelines after the game ended. “I thought we grew tonight as a team because we played so hard. We made some mistakes, but the score’s not indicative of how hard we competed on the field. I saw our kids supporting each other, loving each other and playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played as one EMAP family.” Extra points • Next up for the Pointers is an unusual late-season non-league game Oct. 11 at University City. The Centurions, a Div. III team, are 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the Eastern League. They are giving up 45 points per game. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. • On Oct. 18 the Pointers return home for a Western League showdown with Madison. The Warhawks are 4-2 this year with a 30-14 win over league foe Lincoln. • The Pointer freshman team is now 3-2-1 after a 41-18 loss to Cathedral and the junior varsity moved to 3-3 when Cathedral defeated them 41-6.