THE University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R)mounted a huge comeback in two fronts last Saturday to make history in both football and basketball in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi).
After a bad first half which they spent mostly backpedaling, USJ-R turned the table in the second half to boot out defending champion Don Bosco Technological Center, 1-0, in the Cesafi secondary football semifinals. It is the first time USJ-R is in the finals of the 18-year-old league and it was also the first time that DBTC lost in the semifinals.
Hours after their young football team made history, the USJ-R Jaguars also overcame a 21-point deficit against the University of San Carlos to make the Cesafi finals for the first time since 2008. That’s 10 years.
With history in both sides, I hope the school, students or even alumni will go all out in supporting the team. In football, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu has all the advantages on and off the pitch.
The Magis Eagles beat USJ-R during their previous meeting and like in previous times they made the finals, they will bring everyone to the stands.
For USJ-R, I hope the school will also rally support for their team. The finals will be played on a Saturday, so perhaps encouraging everyone to be there at the Cebu City Sports Center will give the underdog Jaguars that boost against mighty Ateneo.
Ateneo hasn’t lost a game all season long and will be the prohibitive favorites. But this is the final, whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter anymore.
In basketball, USJ-R, the top seed, will be taking on no. 2 and two-time defending champion University of the Visayas (UV)Green Lancers, which is seeking a three-peat. It’s the final year for most of the core of the team and I’m sure they will go all out to end their season with a bang.
UV, having made the finals for the past two years, will always have its set of hardcore supporters. So for Game 1 on Thursday, I hope their supporters will come in droves. Heck, I hope the supporters of both teams will come in droves. We need to bring back the noise level of the Cesafi finals to that of four or five years ago.