SAN FRANCISCO >> St. Ignatius wasn’t supposed to do this again. Not after already pulling off an improbable fourth-quarter comeback last week. Not after falling behind by three touchdowns. Not after its offense only generated three points through two quarters. Not after throwing a demoralizing interception on the one-yard line right before halftime.

No, St. Ignatius wasn’t supposed to do this again.

The Wildcats did it again, anyway.

A week removed from its two-touchdown comeback victory against Serra, St. Ignatius erased a 21-0 deficit, rattled off 31 consecutive points at one juncture and defeated crosstown West Catholic Athletic League rival Archbishop Riordan 31-28.

All signs pointed to a wire-to-wire win for Riordan (2-3, 1-1). By night’s end, the Wildcats (4-1, 2-0) were the ones holding the Gil Haskell Trophy, awarded annually to the winner of this matchup.

“This is our city,” said running back Jarious Hogan. “We’ve been constantly doubted by multiple people, and we’ve constantly shown them that we’re ready. We’re up for it.”

“We’re not a team that can be slept on,” said quarterback Soren Hummel. “Even if you think you have us, you never really got us until the game clock hits zero.”

The anatomy of a comeback takes many forms, and for St. Ignatius, this comeback was of the full-squad variety.

Hummel threw for two touchdowns, his receivers being Tyran Hicks and Quinn Folk. Hogan rushed for a score; Steve Malone did, too.

“I’m just so proud of the team for battling,” said St. Ignatius head coach Lenny Vandermade. “Down 21-3 and having almost every reason to give up, but they just keep battling. This team is resilient. These young men are resilient. I’m just so grateful for them not giving up and not backing down.”

Going into halftime, the Wildcats had 18 reasons to give up, to back down. The Crusaders entered the break with a commanding 21-3 lead, having not trailed for a single second of the first two quarters. It wasn’t just the size of the deficit, but how said deficit was built.

Riordan established control with a touchdown on its first drive, taking a 7-0 lead as Adonyae Brown capped off a 12-play, 78-yard drive by leaping into the end zone for a one-yard rushing touchdown. The Crusaders doubled that lead when quarterback Michael Mitchell Jr. hit Judge Nash for a 44-yard touchdown, then tripled that lead when Mitchell connected with a wide open Cynai Thomas for a 23-yard touchdown.

Mitchell threw for three TDs on the night.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard in the final minutes of the second quarter as Odhran Kenny nailed a 33-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 21-3. They looked poised to trim that deficit to 11 points, marching down to the Crusaders’ one-yard line in the waning seconds of the second quarter, but Riordan’s Moses Vaenuku made a perfect read to come up with a deflating interception. Hogan refused to give up on the play, tracking down Vaenuku and pushing him out of bounds as the clock hit zero to prevent St. Ignatius from going down 28-3.

“I was proud of Jarious for not giving up on the play, because that would be the difference right now,” Vandermade said.

“I just knew somebody needed to make a play and somebody needed him to stay out of that end zone,” Hogan said.