‘We’re gonna fix this’: Central Catholic looking to regroup after blowout Holy Bowl loss
If there was ever a time the Central Catholic High football team needed a bye, it would be now.
A week after losing by one touchdown to St. Francis, the Raiders were blown out on their home field by St. Mary’s in the Holy Bowl, 47-7.
The Raiders came out flat. A botched snap on the opening play from scrimmage foreshadowed the events to come. Though they recovered the fumble, keeping their first drive alive, the possession ended three plays later with a punt.
The lone bright spot for the Raiders was short and sweet: a two-play drive that ended in an 80-yard bomb from Tyler Wentworth to Trace Hernandez. It gave the Raiders a 7-6 lead that lasted less than a minute.
An 84-yard kickoff return from St. Mary’s senior Brooks Wheatley only added to the early disappointment that resulted in a 20-7 first-quarter deficit. The long touchdown started an onslaught of 41 unanswered points.
“I take all the blame, (St. Mary’s) came ready to play,” coach Roger Canepa said. “We played so well last week and thought we could just show up. We just had a bad night. We didn’t prepare well.
“They beat us tonight. I’m not taking anything away from them. They out-coached us, their kids played harder.”
Every team has a bad game but this? This was a “bad, bad, bad day.”
The Raiders will have one more test before they have a Friday off. A tall task against the reigning CIF State Open Division runner-up, Serra.
“We’re playing a very good Serra team that beat Folsom in eight days, so we’ve gotta turn the page,” said Canepa.
Part of regrouping includes getting healthy.
Trace Hernandez, Brooklyn Cheek, Tyler Jacklich and Jaelen Nichols are main contributors who labored through the game with injuries. Cheek and Jacklich sat the entire second half due to their ailments and though Hernandez and Nichols were hampered, played through it until Canepa pulled his starters during the fourth quarter.
“It’s important for us to get back and get healthy 100%,” Hernandez said. “Once we’re all back and healthy we’ll be a stronger team. We need guys.”
The Rams took advantage of holes in the secondary and bad tackling by the Raiders. Junior quarterback Samson Hunkin finished with 197 yards passing with two touchdowns and had one rushing touchdown. He connected with Naseri Danielson seven times for 102 yards and one score.
The offensive success extended from veterans to the young players as freshmen Kenneth Moore III, who finished with four catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns, and backup quarterback Devin Rasmussen, who threw a touchdown pass, will ensure the program is in good hands.
The Raiders’ offense was stifled as Wentworth threw two interceptions and Jacklich was held to 11 carries and just 42 yards.
For those that think this is an accurate representation of this year’s team, Canepa has a message. Essentially, believe that at your own risk.
“It’ll get fixed,” he said. “So everybody that sees this score and thinks that Central is not coming back, they better not wish us upon them later in the year.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2022 at 6:39 AM.
