Method to Central Catholic’s Madness: ‘First one to practice, last one to play’

Montell Bland settled into bed with a book, but his respite was interrupted by noisy neighbors engaged in a fantasy football draft that stretched into the early morning.

There was no easy fix for the Central Catholic High School running back, gassed from a two-hour practice. No window to slam shut. No wall to pound.

Bland was sharing the locker room floor with his teammates, and truthfully, the 6-foot, 210-pound senior was OK with the chatter and limited leg room.

The sleepover was part of the Raiders’ Midnight Madness tradition. Each fall, Central Catholic opens the season with a midnight practice.

The festivities began Sunday with a 6 o’clock Mass, followed by a team dinner with their families. At the stroke of midnight, the Raiders, wearing T-shirts and shorts, sauntered onto the field, collecting in the end zone for stretches.

The tradition was started by coach Roger Canepa during a previous tour at Calaveras High School and has been confirmed with titles since his arrival on the South Carpenter Road campus seven years ago. The Raiders are the three-time reigning Sac-Joaquin Section and CIF state Division IV champions.

“You can’t start until Monday morning, so we start at 12:01. The goal is to be the first one to practice and the last one to play, so for three years it’s worked out pretty good,” said Canepa, who will shoot for career win No. 200 in the Raiders’ season opener against Atwater on Sept. 4. “It’s just to get some momentum going. The kids like it. We sleep in the locker room and then we go to breakfast, and then of course, you have your next practice. It’s something I’ve done for 20 years now.”

Though there weren’t many fans in the stands, the small handful that stayed up past their bedtime watched the Raiders shake out the rust.

Quarterback Hunter Petlansky said he hadn’t thrown a football in a few weeks and looked the part early, missing on a few tosses toward the sideline.

The senior, who verbally committed to Columbia University in July, quickly found his form, though, showcasing his arm strength and athleticism on a roll-out pass. He scrambled to his right and threw off his back foot to a receiver streaking down field.

Later, Bland and returning All-District Player of the Year Justin Rice rehearsed running plays. Here’s a new worry for Valley Oak League defensive coordinators: Bland and Rice on the field at the same time.

Canepa believes they can be better than Ray Lomas and Rey Vega, the dynamic duo who carried the Raiders to the 2012 state title. The Ray and Rey Show, as they were dubbed, rushed for 3,608 yards and 62 touchdowns.

“Ray and Rey were good, but these guys can be even better,” Canepa said. “They’re just bigger.”

And healthy.

Bland began last season as the Raiders’ starting running back but suffered a severely sprained ankle early in a 41-13 victory over Beyer on Sept. 19. He didn’t return until Nov. 7, when the Raiders were whipped by Oakdale 48-28.

Summer reading aside, Bland enjoys the Midnight Madness tradition. He said it will galvanize Central Catholic’s 35-man roster, reinforcing its “We” mantra.

“It’s a great team-bonding experience,” Bland said. “There aren’t many teams that can say they practice at 12:01 and then spend the night with their teammates and just have fun.”

Central Catholic isn’t the only football team in the southern half of the section to get an early start. Sonora and Buhach Colony have also held midnight practices in the past.

While there’s no scientific correlation between madness and the mountaintop, it’s hard to argue the results: Buhach Colony went 34-5 between 2010 and 2012, reaching the D-II semifinals before falling to the eventual section champ each time. Sonora won the Mother Lode League and reached the Division IV section final last year. The Raiders, meanwhile, are 79-18 under Canepa, a creature of habit who believes “process” bleeds into performance.

“It’s been a good experience,” he said. “We set the bar pretty high every year. We’re like everybody, we want to win every game, you want to win league, and you want to do well in the playoffs.

“We return a lot of players. If we can stay healthy, we’re going to be fine. We’re probably in the best football league there is – the VOL. You have to be ready to play every weekend. We’ll be there. We’ll be right in the mix with everything. It’s just a tough league. Hopefully, we stay healthy and we’re there at the end.”

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Method to Central Catholic’s Madness: ‘First one to practice, last one to play’."