Central Catholic’s Canepa named small schools Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports

Central Catholic football coach Roger Canepa has been named the state’s small schools Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports after leading the Raiders to a third consecutive state championship.

Canepa, who earned career victory No. 199 with a 31-19 win over St. Margaret’s of San Juan Capistrano in the CIF Division IV State Championship Bowl Game on Dec. 19 in Carson, joins his predecessor at Central Catholic, Mike Glines (2003), Escalon’s Mark Loureiro (2010), Hilmar’s Frank Marques (2008) and Hughson’s Reyn Franca (1997) as Stanislaus District coaches to win the award.

“That’s pretty good company,” Canepa said. “I’ve been around all those guys so I’ve got a lot of respect for all of them.”

Canepa has guided the Raiders to a 41-6 record over the past three seasons and has had three running backs (Ray Lomas, Matt Ringer and Justin Rice) eclipse 2,000 yards in that span.

“I don’t know what to say when you win stuff like that, other than it’s a credit to the players and the assistant coaches and all the hard work they put in,” said Canepa, who finished his seventh season at Central Catholic. “But I’m happy to have the award.”

Next season will present a new challenge for the Raiders, as they’ll be promoted to Division III for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. The section’s success rule stipulates that any team winning three consecutive section titles must be promoted to the next-highest division for the following postseason. So, Central Catholic will battle the likes of Oakdale, Manteca and Sierra, not only in Valley Oak League play but in the playoffs as well.

The Raiders were a two-point conversion away from being 0-3 against those teams last season, with the lone victory 29-28 over Manteca in overtime.

Canepa recently returned from Florida, where he was a defensive assistant in the Under Armour All-America Game under head coach Herm Edwards. Canepa and Team Highlight defeated Team Armour 46-6.

Career win No. 200 for Canepa could come in the 2015 season opener against Atwater. The Raiders beat the Falcons 62-13 in their 2014 opener at Falcon Field.

This story was originally published January 12, 2015 at 9:36 PM with the headline "Central Catholic’s Canepa named small schools Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports."