After two years of coming close, St. Joseph Academy reached the pinnacle last season.

Now comes the hard part: finding a way to scale the mountain again.

The San Marcos-based Catholic school advanced to the San Diego Section 8-man football championship game two straight years, only to watch its opponents celebrate after the final whistle. The tide turned last year when the Crusaders rolled to a 10-1 season and the school’s first CIF football championship.

A 60-22 win over Calvin Christian in the championship game at Palomar College followed the pair of runner-up finishes.

Long-time St. Joseph Academy head coach Tom Davis reports that player numbers are down from last year’s breakout season.

“We’re going to be in a little bit of a rebuild, but we’ll be competitive,” said Davis. “We sta

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