St. Mary’s big-play offense too much for Central Catholic in Holy Bowl

Every year, the Holy Bowl against St. Mary’s serves as a barometer for the Central Catholic High football team.

The traditional game gives the Raiders a good sense of where they’re at early in the season.

After Friday night’s 27-14 loss to the Rams, it’s clear Central Catholic has some work to do.

St. Mary’s big-play offense and bend-but-don’t-break defense stifled the Raiders most of the night, allowing the Rams to take home the Holy Bowl trophy for the third consecutive year. It was the 34th meeting of the traditional powers.

After the game, Central Catholic coach Roger Canepa appeared frustrated by his team’s performance. “Just the little things,” Canepa said. “Man, we missed so many blocking assignments, and (St. Mary’s) did a good job. We called some (bad) plays ... not very good.”

St. Mary’s quarterback Timmy Karagounis passed for 231 yards and a touchdown, and Landon McClendon Jr. rushed for two TDs to lead the Rams’ offense.

After Osani Gayles’ 65-yard TD run put the Rams up 27-7, it looked like the game might get out of hand.

But Central Catholic didn’t quit and St. Mary’s made some mistakes — including a number of penalties, a missed field goal and two missed PATs — to keep the Raiders in the game.

“Not pretty at the end, we’ve clearly got some things we can work on in practice this week, which we will,” St. Mary’s coach Tony Franks said. “But it’s a great win for this young football team, so we’re really excited we came away with this one.”

Central Catholic still finding its footing

Like the Rams, the Raiders are young and relatively inexperienced. Central Catholic lost a lot of key senior leadership to graduation, including three-year starting quarterback TP Wentworth, The Bee’s Player of the Year last season.

Central Catholic opened the season with a seven-point win at Pleasant Valley, but St. Mary’s was a big jump up in competition.

The Raiders moved the ball fairly well all night but didn’t have much to show for it until late in the game. Central Catholic scored its only offensive touchdown — a Kayden McHenry-to-Chase Perino 14-yard pass play — with 2 minutes left in the game.

“We didn’t play well,” Canepa said. “We had problems moving the ball — we moved it, then got stopped.”

Central Catholic’s defense, meanwhile, had a difficult time against the Rams’ speed on offense.

That speed was evident early, when on the Rams’ first drive, Kenneth Moore III took a short pass from Karagounis and raced 75 yards for the touchdown.

While the Raiders had trouble cashing in for points, St. Mary’s built a 19-0 halftime lead.

Pick six gives Central Catholic hope

Just when things looked hopeless for the Raiders, the defense stepped up. Midway through the third quarter, safety Dylan Ridenour tracked down an overthrown pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown. The play seemed to give the Raiders and the home crowd some energy.

But it didn’t last long.

A few possessions later, Gayles’ 65-yard TD run put the Rams up by 20.

Canepa said felt his team was capable of playing better. “They beat us tonight. Would they beat us another game? I don’t know,” he said.

Central Catholic (1-1) will travel to face Central Catholic of Portland next Friday night.

St. Mary’s (1-1) will play at Marin Catholic.