Central Catholic tops Patterson in VOL opener, powered by strong running game

Central Catholic and Patterson football teams hadn’t met in over a decade. In the first Valley Oak League meeting between the two schools on Friday, the rivalry picked up right where it left off.

Each team knew what they were up against. The Bee’s #1 ranked Central Catholic was a little too much to handle for #3 ranked Patterson.

The used-to-be rival schools rekindled some of their program’s competitiveness against each other in the year’s first VOL matchup. Extra hits after plays, the exchanging of taunts between players, and the additional “oomph” out of each team’s performance signified the importance of league play.

Central Catholic raided Patterson Community Stadium, coming out with a 25-14 victory over the Tigers.

“It’s the VOL; every week, you’re going to get tested,” said Central Catholic head coach Roger Canepa. “To get a win is big.”

The Raiders ran the ball in 37 out of 38 total offensive plays Friday night. Junior quarterback Kayden McHenry went 0/1 in the pocket, mainly spending the night providing handoffs to senior running back Joey Alcott and senior fullback Wyatt Dragoo.

Frequently running the ball was part of the strategy for Canepa’s Raiders heading into the week. “That was our game plan to slow the game and keep the ball away because their offense is good,” said Canepa. Limiting how much time Patterson’s high-scoring offense was on the field worked out for the Raiders, shutting the Tigers out in the first half of Friday night’s game.

Alcott’s elusive runs, paired with the power-back strength of Dragoo, were enough to wear down Patterson’s defense. Dragoo’s change-of-pace role, averaging 5.5 yards a carry, allowed Alcott to break loose. Alcott averaged 13.5 yards per carry, breaking out for a huge 53-yard gain in the second quarter, setting up the Raiders with field position for their first touchdown. He did it again late in the 3rd quarter, knotting a 66-yard rushing touchdown on a play starting from their own 34-yard line to put the Raiders up 17-0.

“Dragoo’s a dog,” said running back Joey Alcott. “5, 6 guys on him, doesn’t matter.” The one-two punch of Alcott’s 189 yards on 14 carries with two rushing touchdowns and Dragoo’s 77 yards on 14 carries with a rushing touchdown provided Central Catholic with almost all of their scoring. “Us two, best combo,” said Alcott about his teammate Dragoo.

FIRST HALF TROUBLES FOR PATTERSON

A scoreless first half for Patterson made it difficult for the team to stay in the game against a Central Catholic team that had spent the past two weeks playing out-of-state powerhouses.

After a 32-yard field goal from Central Catholic’s senior kicker Guillermo Rodriguez made the game 3-0, Patterson started their second-quarter drive rushing the ball efficiently. That was until a big hit on junior quarterback Max Medina forced him to seek attention from the training staff. Senior Noah Cozart, who had lined up as a wide receiver for most of the game, finished the drive as play caller for the Tigers.

Big runs from senior running backs Jeremiah Lugo and Coby Joseph moved the marker to the 1-yard line. On 4th and with about a yard to go, the Tigers fumbled the ball, and the Raiders recovered it, maintaining their 3-0 lead halfway through the second quarter.

“That was kind of disappointing to be able to fight through that whole adversity of switching out quarterbacks in the drive, get down to the one-yard line, and then we just can’t capitalize,” said Patterson head coach Rob Cozart. Patterson’s staff wasn’t initially sure whether or not Medina would come back in the game after the hit.

On the drive following the fumble recovery, the Raiders marched downfield and scored the first touchdown of the game, a 6-yard rush by Dragoo, ending the first half.

“We just couldn’t finish,” said Cozart. “We were making stops when we needed to make stops on defense, were moving the ball pretty effectively at times, and just couldn’t put it in the end zone.”

Medina stayed in the game, finishing 20/32 passing for 190 yards and a touchdown to senior wide receiver Noah Cozart. Jeremiah Lugo scored the only other touchdown for the Tigers, a late goal-line carry towards the end of the fourth quarter.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC DEFENSIVE PROWESS

Big plays on defense for the Raiders suppressed the Tigers’ offense, which came into Friday’s game averaging over 31 points a game so far this season.

Besides his success running the ball on offense, Wyatt Dragoo was also effective on defense. He led the Raiders with eight tackles, lined up as an inside linebacker.

Senior cornerback Scotty Hallmon almost had two interceptions if it wasn’t for a defensive holding call. While the Tigers were attacking in the red zone, his interception on the game’s first drive created the defensive game script that put the Raiders over the edge for the rest of the game.

“That was probably the biggest play of the game,” said Canepa about Hallmon’s interception.

VOL HEATING UP

After a couple of close games in the Valley Oak League between Central Catholic and Patterson, Sierra and East Union, and a blowout of Oakdale over Mountain House, Manteca was the odd man out, not playing their first league game until next week.

Central Catholic will head to Manteca next Friday. In the last ten years of playing each other, Central Catholic has never lost to the Buffaloes.

“That’s last year and the year before; it’s a whole new team, so we got to be ready to play,” said Canepa when asked about his team’s upcoming matchup against Manteca.

After two losses in a row, Patterson heads to East Union, which is coming off a loss to Sierra. Both teams will be looking to take their first league win of the year.