November 6, 2026 - 10:19 pm

For all practical purposes, Mater East took the field Friday night knowing its regional semifinal football game was little more than a formality.

Every available metric indicated the top-seeded Knights (8-3) would win in a blowout, and that’s exactly what happened. They finished with 278 offensive yards, and got two touchdown receptions from Kevin-Keith Tindimwebwa to roll to a 56-6 home victory over fourth-seeded Cadence (0-10-1) in the 4A Southern Region playoffs.

The win lifted the Knights into the finals, where they will host Sloan Canyon at 6 p.m. Nov. 13.

“We take all our games seriously,” said Mater East coach Tim Hough, whose squad led 42-0 at halftime. “But it was also a good chance to get our young guys in.”

Things didn’t go without a hitch, as Mater East committed 18 of the game’s 28 penalties, many of which extended Cadence drives.

“We jumped offside a lot,” said Hough, who noted that excessive penalties could be a bigger issue next week.…