Special talent: Jared Rice blossoms into return specialist for Central Catholic

He is a feather dancing in traffic on the freeway. The calm amid the chaos and confusion.

While the world around him crashes and collides in one of football’s most violent acts – the kickoff return – Central Catholic’s Jared Rice is shifty and smooth, patient and poised.

He collects the ball in the shadow of his goal post, pausing on his back foot, a human bullet waiting for the firing pin. His eyes scan the muddled mess in front of him, searching for a running lane.

Bang!

“Whenever I touch the ball, I try to make things happen,” said Rice, no relation to reigning Bee Player of the Year and senior teammate Justin Rice. “Kick return is my chance to do some work and help our offense out. Good position on the field sets us up with easy scores, especially with our offense.”

More frequently, he’s gone the extra mile for the Raiders (9-0, 6-0 Valley Oak League), answering one score with another in the ultimate tit-for-tat. Rice has kickoff-return touchdowns in three of the last six games for Central Catholic, which will play for the VOL championship Friday against Oakdale (9-0, 6-0).

The top two teams in The Bee’s large-school poll have been on a collision course since setting their trajectories with impressive nonleague victories over larger opponents.

Oakdale stared down Turlock 24-13 in Week 1, and Central Catholic pulled away from St. Mary’s 36-22 in the Holy Bowl without Justin Rice (ankle) a week later.

In a game of little separation, special teams and field position could come into focus. Raiders coach Roger Canepa hopes that is the case Friday night at David Patton Field. Then, he says, an estimated crowd of about 4,000 will see how dynamic the younger Rice has become.

“He’s tougher than people think. You never get a good shot on him,” Canepa said. “He reminds me of Barry Sanders the way he slithers. When he gets the ball in his hands, he’s special. He’s been a big-play guy for us, a game-changer at any time.”

What the 5-foot-9, 145-pound junior lacks in size, he makes up for with breakaway speed, smooth cuts and impeccable timing. He has returned 10 kicks for touchdowns since the start of the 2014 season, including four this fall.

Rice torched Weston Ranch and Kimball with kickoff returns for scores this season and then punctuated a victory at East Union with an 85-yard return. He also returned a punt for a touchdown against Sierra.

“Patience is huge. If you catch the ball and go, you probably won’t go anywhere,” Rice said. “You have to read the right hole.”

His style has developed over the years. Rice began returning kicks as a member of the Ceres Seahawks and Modesto Broncos youth football teams. Back then, he played alongside another Bee Player of the Year – former Central Valley star Ja’Quan Gardner, the Stanislaus District’s all-time leading rusher with 6,014 yards.

He and Gardner remain close, even as Gardner closes in on Humboldt State’s season rushing record.

“I’ve always looked up to him,” Rice said. “The way he runs the ball is amazing.”

Rice is building a fan base, too.

He had five kickoff returns for touchdowns for Central Catholic’s junior varsity team last season, earning a promotion for the varsity team’s run to the CIF Division IV state championship.

Rice adjusted quickly to the “bigger, faster, stronger” game, gashing Escalon for 102 return yards, including an 84-yard touchdown.

“He is very gifted. He has the ‘it’ factor that you can’t teach,” Canepa said. “Just when he’s about to get hit, he goes from 160 pounds to about 10 pounds and slithers through. I’ve seen him go through a 6-inch hole. It’s like, ‘How’d he get through there?’ ”

Canepa has taken advantage of that skill set, working Rice into the backfield. The junior backup could top 1,000 rushing yards if the Raiders go on another long postseason run. He has 694 yards and 10 touchdowns and is averaging nearly nine yards per carry.

He had three 100-yard games as Justin Rice recovered from an ankle sprain.

“I gained so much confidence, knowing I could affect the game in other ways,” the younger Rice said. “Coach sees me and knows he can use me in different ways now.”

The return, however, remains his calling card. The feather dancing in traffic packs a wallop.

“It’s a huge part of the game,” Rice said. “It’s a punch in the mouth if you get a touchdown or a huge return.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Special talent: Jared Rice blossoms into return specialist for Central Catholic."