Prep Roundup: Central Catholic, Escalon to meet after easy victories
It’s generally a sure bet that the deeper you get into the high school playoffs in the Modesto area, a matchup between longtime rivals will emerge.
That’s what came out of Week 1 of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs on Friday night, when Central Catholic and Escalon rolled to victories to set up a showdown between two of the area’s most prolific programs.
Central rushed to a 35-0 lead by the second quarter and defeated Natomas 63-10 in their Division IV matchup. Meanwhile, Escalon sprinted out to a 41-14 lead over Center before settling for a 48-20 victory.
That set up an Escalon-Central Catholic contest in Modesto next Friday. The winner will advance to the Nov. 28 championship.
Escalon is led by coach Mark Loureiro and Central Catholic by Roger Canepa, who between them have more than 450 coaching victories.
The last time the two teams met, Central Catholic beat Escalon 52-10 in the 2012 section Division IV title game. The Raiders went on to win the state title that year.
To do that this year, the Raiders will likely lean on running back Justin Rice, who had a huge night.
Rice had 13 carries for 255 yards and three touchdowns, including first-quarter scoring runs of 28 and 60 yards. He also hauled in a 71-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Hunter Petlansky.
Central Catholic was coming off a loss to Oakdale and, like the Raiders, Escalon entered its game coming off a loss to Modesto Christian.
On Friday, Hunter Colton had touchdown runs of 9, 6, 12 and 68 yards in the first half and Brandon Grogan returned fumble recoveries 38 and 62 yards for touchdowns before halftime as the Cougars gained quick control.
Modesto Christian 76, Rio Vista 41 in Modesto – The Crusaders rushed to an easy victory over Rio Vista to advance to the semifinals of the section Division VI semfinals.
Chris Brown rushed for 249 yards and four touchdowns to lead a trio of MC players who rushed for 100 or more yards. The team had 562 rushing yards total.
Next week, Modesto Christian hosts Bradshaw Christian, a 47-6 winner over Gustine.
Brown had touchdown runs of 53, 23, 57 and 66 yards.
Also leading the way for MC were Zack Schott, who had 131 rushiyg yards and one touchdown and Connor Dowd, who had 100 yards rushing and three touchdowns, including a 64-yarder.
Grant 42, Patterson 23 in Sacramento – The Tigers hung tough against the perennial power from the north, trailing just 21-15, in the third quarter before the Pacers pulled away.
Damarrio Hammonds hauled in two touchdown passes from Damien Paulo – the second in the third quarter to cut the lead to 6. However, Grant pulled away with three consecutive touchdowns in the section Divison II first-round game to end the Tigers’ season at 7-4.
Mariposa 14, Amador 7 in Mariposa – The Grizzlies’ defense held tough throughout the game for the victory.
Kama’re Dailey had a 6-yard touchdown run and Michael Spielman hauled in a 5-yard scoring pass from Aaron Lerma in the first half as the Grizzlies took a 14-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, Dylan Littlefield scored the Buffaloes’ lone touchdown on a 2-yard run.
Mariposa travels to Colfax next week for a section Division V semifinal.
Colfax 42, Summerville 35 in Colfax – The Bears led 27-14 in the second quarter but could not hold on. Jake Fulkerson scored three touchdowns, including a 65-yard reception from quarterback Bryce Farrell that gave Summerville a 35-28 lead before halftime.
But, the Colfax defense shut out the Bears in the second half and scored twice in the fourth quarter to advance.
This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 11:39 PM with the headline "Prep Roundup: Central Catholic, Escalon to meet after easy victories."