Escalon makes Central Catholic earn third straight trip to D-IV title game

A sign hanging on the fence in front of the home bleachers at Central Catholic’s David Patton Field reads, “We Smell Fear.”

Maybe it was the smell of tri-tip or linguica or the peppers and onions grilling on the concession stand barbecue, but it most certainly wasn’t fear.

Escalon swapped blows with powerful Central Catholic and was within a touchdown entering the fourth quarter before the top-seeded Raiders pulled away for a 35-14 victory in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV semifinals Friday night.

“We made them earn this victory tonight,” said Escalon coach Mark Loureiro, the winningest coach in section history with 265 victories. “A lot of people don’t. They come in here and just give up. Our kids didn’t.

“But when you play great teams, you can’t make mistakes. We had three turnovers, and we broke down defensively on fourth and long.”

Escalon trailed 14-7 at halftime but needed less than three minutes to tie the score. Two long completions to Brandon Grogan – 28 and 42 yards – took the ball to the 1, where Wesley Dick finished the drive with his second touchdown of the night and knotted the score 14-14.

On Central Catholic’s ensuing possession, the Raiders faced fourth and 9 from Escalon’s 37. With the ball too far away for a field goal and too close for a punt, Central coach Roger Canepa called for Hunter Petlansky to run a quarterback draw.

“I wasn’t sure that was a good call,” said Canepa, whose 9-3 Raiders will play Sonora for the D-IV title next Friday night at Stockton’s Lincoln High. “But Hunter’s a great athlete.”

The 6-3, 225-pound junior dropped back, then took off up the middle, breaking a tackle near the 30 that would have prevented him from getting a first down. He then broke to his left and scampered about 25 yards down the sideline before being pushed out of bounds at the 4. From there, Justin Rice (22 carries, 158 yards) scored the first of his two touchdowns, putting CC up 21-14.

The Cougars (8-4) came back with a seven-play drive that took them to Central’s 42. On first down, quarterback Caleb Mullen dropped back and threw to a receiver running an out pattern in front of the Escalon sideline. Rice jumped the route and intercepted the pass, along with any momentum the Cougars were building.

“That No. 2 is special,” said Loureiro, referring to Rice. “On both sides of the ball.”

The Raiders took over on their 36, and nine plays later – Rice carried the ball on seven of those – they made it a two-score game when Rice burst in from the 10.

Escalon turned over the ball on downs, and Petlansky scored on a naked bootleg from 33 yards out to seal it.

Central’s first score of the night came on a 27-yard connection from Petlansky to senior Jared Rice with 8:13 to play in the first quarter. After Dick tied the score with a 2-yard run, sophomore Jared Rice – no relation to brothers Justin or the senior Jared – returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to make it 14-7.

“We thought we could out-scheme them, but they out-athleted us,” said Loureiro, whose team starts nine underclassmen on offense and seven on defense. “But, hey, the future’s bright. I’m proud of these kids.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2014 at 12:25 AM with the headline "Escalon makes Central Catholic earn third straight trip to D-IV title game."