Central Catholic continues late-season improvement with win over VOL rival Oakdale
Central Catholic High football coach Roger Canepa says his team has improved this season in two critical areas.
“Attitude and effort,” he said.
Both were on display Friday night in the Raiders’ 46-27 win over Valley Oak League rival Oakdale at David Patton Field.
“We played well tonight,” Canepa said. “The defense played well, we threw the ball, ran. Finally, we’re getting better.”
And the Raiders are getting better at the right time of year.
Central Catholic improved to 3-1 in the VOL and 5-3 overall. With two winnable games left in the regular season, the Raiders could take a four-game win streak into the Sac-Joaquin Section postseason.
“Hey, any time you can get a win in the VOL, you take it,” Canepa said. “They’ve got a good program, the coach is doing a good job over there. So we’re just happy.”
Central Catholic and Oakdale always play tough, physical football and this game was no exception. The two teams went toe-to-toe for three quarters before the Raiders were able to pull away in the fourth.
Senior running back Joey Alcutt rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns, and junior quarterback Kayden McHenry passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Central Catholic offense.
“We haven’t run the ball like that in a while,” Alcutt said. “We had a lot of energy.”
Central Catholic stifles Oakdale run game
On defense, the Raiders held Oakdale’s vaunted running attack in check for much of the game.
While the Raiders gave up 27 points, only two of Oakdale’s touchdowns came on offense.
Senior running back Wes Burford rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns. But that was a far cry from the nearly 400 yards rushing and six touchdowns he had a week earlier against Patterson.
“Defensively, they were physical,” said Oakdale coach Garrett Martin, whose team is now 6-2 overall, 3-1 in the VOL. “They stopped us up the middle.”
Burford, the Sac-Joaquin Section’s leading rusher coming into the game, didn’t find much running room all night.
But he did find a hole and rumbled 68 yards for a touchdown to pull the Mustangs within six points, 33-27, with 9:36 left in the game.
Central Catholic pulls away
The six-point margin didn’t last long, though.
On the ensuing drive, McHenry hit junior receiver Chase Perino on a 57-yard touchdown pass that pretty much put the game away.
Central Catholic linebacker JP Mendoza Novoa closed out the scoring with a 21-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Wyatt Dragoo scored Central Catholic’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run. McHenry hit senior receiver Joseph Stewart on 37-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter that gave the Raiders the lead for good.
Oakdale special teams huge
Oakdale kept the game close with a couple of big special teams plays.
Central Catholic was stopped on its opening drive of the night and had to punt. But the snap flew over the punter’s head and into the end zone, where an Oakdale player jumped on the ball for a touchdown.
After Central Catholic took a 26-13 lead late in the third quarter, Oakdale’s Richard Flores ran the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
Martin said he liked that his team stayed in the game until the end.
“I like our character,” Martin said. “We’re tough, we never quit. ... We continue to get better every week, and that’s what we want to do.”
Looking ahead to Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs
Central Catholic will look to continue its late-season momentum next Friday at Mountain House (0-8, 0-4) before closing out the regular season at home against Sierra (5-3, 2-2).
Oakdale hosts Sierra next Friday before closing out the VOL schedule at first-place Manteca (7-1, 4-0).
Both teams will be hoping to get a first-round bye in the section playoffs, which begin Nov. 8.
This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 11:21 PM.
