PATTERSON Ca.- Central Catholic received their stiffest test yet in the new WESTERN
ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Friday night, from a surprising Patterson Tigers squad that forced Central to use all their starters deep into the 4th quarter.
Central( 7-1 overall, 3-0 WAC ) finally seized control in the final 15 minutes scoring 3 touchdowns to seal the 36-12 victory.
Patterson (6-2, 2-1) served notice that they will be a contender for playoff positions now as well as the future. These two teams could very well meet again in this years playoffs. Coach Rob Cozart has brought a winning attitude and wide open offense to the Tiger Program.
The game didn’t start well for the Tigers when quarterback Daniel Reza’s first pass was intercepted by the Raider’s Rueben Ramos deep in Patterson territory . Bryce Bailey opened the scoring for Central with a 12 yard run after a short drive. Patterson came right back with a stunning 80 yard TD pass from Daniel Reza to Robby Semano. Reza completed 12 of 32 passes for a whopping 306 yards. Semano caught 5 passes for 225 yards, and scored on a 2 yard run after his 75 yard catch and run in the third quarter brought the tigers to within 3 points at 15-12.
Central stacked 8 men at the line of scrimmage to defense Patterson’s new veer running game . The strategy worked .It limited Patterson to minus 35 yards rushing for the entire game. Reza countered with slick play action which opened up the passing game.
Led by do everything halfback Louis Bland, the Raiders scored 3 unanswered touchdowns to take control in the 4th quarter. Bland had 178 yards on 28 carries and also completed 2 of 3 halfback passes for 19 yards. He scored on run’s of 18 and 5 yards .Bryce Bailey got his 2nd T.D. of the night from 2 yards ending the scoring .
Bland has rushed for 1,316 yards ,averaging 12 yards a carry, in 8 games. Bland also played an outstanding game on defense as did Rueben Ramos, who also completed 12 of 22 passes for 160 yards. Central’s balanced attack racked up over 400 yards for the evening.
