The Point Loma High School (PLHS) Pointers will be out to earn their fifth trip to Qualcomm Stadium tonight, Dec. 1, when they square off at 7 p.m. with Cathedral Catholic High School at the Dons’ Carmel Valley campus. The two schools have a lengthy history. After defeating El Capitan High on Nov. 25 in CIF quarterfinal play, the Dogs (8-2-1) would like nothing better than to end Cathedral’s 10-1, top-seeded run of four consecutive Division III championships. The titles have come, all too often, at the expense of the Pointers. “It’s just a matter of us going back and doing what we do right,” said Point Loma head coach Mike Hastings. “We know them and they know us, and it’s just a matter of us rolling our sleeves up and doing our work.” The Pointers have faced Cathedral many times in CIF matches, with the Dons coming out on top each time. “We’ll get it right,” Hastings said. The current Pointer squad should need nothing more than their memory of last year’s postseason matchup as motivation. In an identical semifinal pairing, the Pointers had just about everything possible go wrong as the Dons raced to a 31-0 lead after just one quarter.  The final score was 51-14. The Dons also have stopped the Pointers twice at “The Q” in 2007 and 2009, besides ending PLHS’ season in the semifinals in 2008. In the Pointers’ other two recent CIF championship appearances in 2005 and 2006 it was St. Augustine, another private school, that stopped Point Loma High. But in one of the most memorable Pointer playoff games in history, Point Loma knocked the Saints monkey off their backs during a classic CIF semifinal battle played in a downpour at Mt. Carmel High in 2007. In a game where the lead changed hands several times, the Pointers prevailed 25-21 to earn their third straight trip to Qualcomm — and their first finals loss to the Dons. In a case of unsavory scheduling brought about by Qualcomm Stadium use policies, the winner of tonight’s game will have only the weekend to prepare for the championship match, set for Monday, Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. “Our scrimmage with them (Cathedral, during preseason in August) was a very physical one and we’re looking forward to another great game with those guys,” said Hastings. “Our kids are always fired up when we get to play Cathedral.” Tonight is one of those opportunities.