Rice sets school rushing records in Central Catholic’s running-clock win over Marin Catholic

Moments before the opening kickoff, the Central Catholic and Marin Catholic football teams shook hands near midfield in a show of sportsmanship.

It would be the last time the parochial powers would be on equal footing.

Justin Rice rushed for a school-record 328 yards and five touchdowns as Central Catholic ran away from the visiting Wildcats 49-14 in the CIF Northern California Open Small-School Bowl Game on Saturday night.

The Raiders outscored the North Coast Section Division IV champions 21-0 in the second half, turning this regional showdown of perennial state bowl contenders into a running-clock coronation of Central Catholic (15-0).

Quarterback Hunter Petlansky accounted for two touchdowns, including a 10-yard strike to tight end Luke Navarro, and the defense put the clamps on another high-octane offense.

The Raiders haven’t yielded a point in the second half in consecutive weeks. Central Catholic shut out Oakdale over the final two quarters in a 21-7 victory in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III final, then suppressed Marin Catholic speedster Darius-James Peterson on Saturday.

“We’re a physical football team, and we rely on energy. We rely on putting pads on people and making things happen,” Central Catholic coach Roger Canepa said. “So far, really good things have happened.”

Only two other programs in the state can relate to the Raiders’ run of success, and they’ll play each other in the Open Division State Bowl on Saturday at Sacramento State: De La Salle (10) vs. Centennial (six), who have combined for 16 state bowl appearances.

Central Catholic is headed to its fourth consecutive state bowl and fifth overall. The three-time Division IV state champion will play San Marino (15-0), which overcame a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Sierra Canyon 36-35.

That result rippled through the on-field celebration at David Patton Field, where Rice and his offensive line reveled in another historic evening.

Rice carried the ball 34 times, including seven times for 64 yards on the opening drive as Central Catholic made no illusions about its game plan.

“I like the ball in my hands,” said Rice, whose touches have increased as the games have grown in importance. “And when my offensive line is blocking great like that, I want to be the one that gets it done for them.”

Rice finished the 10-play, 90-yard opening drive with a seven-yard burst around the left edge, following the lead block of fullback Kekupa’a Freehauf to make it 7-0.

“We felt like they hadn’t really been hit yet. We wanted to play our game. We wanted to ground and pound and run out the clock,” said Rice, who single-handedly outgained Marin Catholic 328-317. “We wanted to keep their offense off the field, because we knew that even when we played good defense, they’d still be able to make plays on us. So our best defense was keeping the ball on offense. That’s what we did.”

With Central Catholic’s season rushing leader Matt Ringer on the sideline, Rice took aim at the record book. He surpassed his single-game rushing mark with a 17-yard carry late in the third quarter. Ironically, Rice set the record in the same game last fall, gashing Capital Christian for 307 yards in a 35-14 victory in what was then the Division IV regional bowl.

The Fresno State-bound senior also erased Ringer’s 2-year-old record. Ringer, who now plays at the University of Chicago, rushed for 2,348 yards in 2013 but missed Central Catholic’s state final because of an injury.

Rice now has a program-best 2,485 yards and counting. His total is second to Andrew Brown of Ripon Christian in Stanislaus District history. Brown rushed for 2,781 yards in 2013.

True to form, though, Rice side-steps any talk of individual glory. He showers his offensive line and fullbacks with praise and talks at length about team goals.

On Saturday, he left the field clutching the CIF Northern California Open Small-School championship plaque.

“We’re undefeated. That was my only goal coming in,” Rice said. “I knew we had the team to do it. We got the seniors and the juniors to help out.”

A sophomore played a pivotal role, too. Offensive lineman Brandon Williamson played on the junior varsity team as a freshman last fall but was too young to join the varsity for the postseason, which culminated with a 31-19 victory over St. Margaret’s of San Juan Capistrano.

This fall, the 6-foot-1, 235-pound 15-year-old has played beyond his years, and Canepa believes he – and everyone else – has equal stake in the Raiders’ fourth consecutive state bowl appearance.

“He does what he does, but it’s not just Justin,” said Canepa, now 52-3 at David Patton Field. “It’s guys like Montell (Bland) and ’Paa. It’s the line. It’s the quarterback. It’s everybody on that team. You don’t get that many yards if you’re not blocking. He’s very good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a group effort.”

Marin Catholic stayed within striking distance in the first half thanks to Peterson, a two-time Marin County Athletic League Most Valuable Player. He finished with 116 yards on 18 carries and was 10 of 19 passing for 149 yards with two interceptions.

Peterson picked on a backup safety after Central Catholic lost Josh Frowein (knee) to an injury. Peterson hit Will Buckstaff in stride down the seam for a 41-yard gain to the Central Catholic 4-yard line. Jake Laudenslager took it in one play later to cut the Raiders’ lead to 21-7.

After Rice answered with a 38-yard scoring run – his third of the half – Peterson orchestrated a near-perfect two-minute drill. He had a 48-yard gain on a read-option, then punctuated the drive with a one-yard dive to make it 28-14 at the intermission.

The game wasn’t over, and Rice said that didn’t sit well with the Raiders, who scored on four of their five first-half possessions.

“We were really pissed off about the 14. We wanted to get the ball back, go down and score,” he said. “Just show them that they’re not going to stop us and we’re going to stop them. We wanted to set the tone.”

Central Catholic issued Marin Catholic its walking papers with a seven-play, 73-yard drive to start the third quarter.

The play sheet might as well have been posted on the gate entering the field. Rice carried four times and eventually scored from nine yards out. Bland picked up three yards in traffic. The Raiders even tried Jared Rice on a fly sweep. And Petlansky (4 of 6, 68 yards) flipped a 12-yard pass to Navarro (three catches, 63 yards, touchdown) while rolling to his right.

It was vintage Central Catholic, who picked off Peterson twice in the second half.

“That was a good football team, but we put our will on them,” Canepa said. “I think we took it out of them coming out in the second half and getting that score. We ran the ball. That’s what we do. We could have thrown more, but we tried to slow the game down. We wanted to keep the ball out of their hands, not make too many mistakes and do what we do.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 1:14 AM with the headline "Rice sets school rushing records in Central Catholic’s running-clock win over Marin Catholic."