By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Last year during the Super Bowl in a commercial for the all-new Corolla, football fans learned the consequences of disturbing a badger.
At Ed Lloyd Field in Santa Rosa on Saturday, the Central Catholic Raiders learned a similar lesson – don’t disturb Jeff Badger.
Cardinal Newman’s senior running back and linebacker led a second-half comeback by the Cardinals for a 38-20 rout of the visiting Raiders.
After carrying the ball just three times in the first half and getting in on a handful of tackles, Badger awakened in the second half to score three touchdowns and rush for 115 yards on 10 carries. His efforts helped the Cardinals overcome a 14-3 first-half Raiders lead.
“I just wasn’t feeling very well in the first half,” said Badger in assessing his first-half performance. “I felt a lot better in the second half after I threw up.”
Badger made the Raiders sick on the opening play of the second half. Gathering in the ball at his own 7-yard line on the kickoff, Badger motored straight up the middle of the field for a 93-yard kickoff return that pulled the Cardinals within four points at 14-10.
Two possessions later, Badger carried the ball on three straight plays, gaining 15, 3 and 47 yards to put the ball at the Central Catholic 10. On the long gainer, Badger was initially stopped near the line of scrimmage by a pair of Raider defenders, but he slid off, found a hole on the left side and raced down the sideline until he was caught from behind.
On the next play, Cardinal quarterback Randy Wright faked the handoff to Badger and snuck around the left side for a 10-yard score and Cardinal Newman’s first lead of the game, 17-14.
Badger and the Cardinals were not finished, however. After forcing a Raider punt on the ensuing series, Cardinal Newman drove 73 yards on five plays with Badger scoring on a 10-yard run. The big play on the drive came on a 44-yard pass to Casey Miller that put the ball at the Central Catholic 27. Badger rushed for 17 yards on the next play and scored one carry later for a 24-14 lead.
Badger added the crushing blow early in the fourth quarter. After Central Catholic forced a Cardinal punt, the Raiders set up shop at their own 34. Dylan Swartz took a quick drop and drilled a short pass in the direction of receiver David Biscevic. But Badger stepped in front of the pass at the 35 and raced untouched into the end zone for a 31-14 Cardinal advantage.
As it has for the past two seasons, the game will likely play a role in determining the Northern California berth in the CIF Division 3 Bowl Game. The Cardinals won the game in 2006 and received the Division 3 nod. Last year, the two teams tied, but Central Catholic went to the Division 3 game, in part, because Cardinal Newman did not win a section title.
Both teams must still win section championships in order to qualify, but that road became much easier for the Cardinals, who have been dropped from Division 2 in the North Coast Section to Division 3. Cardinal Newman has a tough test this week as it faces Del Oro of the Sac Joaquin Section. The Cardinals also face Palma of the Central Coast Section in two weeks. Central Catholic, meanwhile travels to face Northern Section powerhouse Sutter next Saturday.
The Raiders, under first-year coach Roger Canepa, appeared to be more than capable of knocking off the Cardinals in the first half. Using a short passing game, Central Catholic built a 14-3 lead by halftime.
“We had prepared for the fly sweep and smashmouth football coming into this game, because that’s what their coach had run in Calaveras and it’s what Central Catholic usually does” said Cardinal Newman coach Paul Cronin. “Instead, we got Arena football. We weren’t ready for their passing game because we hadn’t seen it on tape. But give credit to our coaches, they made the adjustments at halftime.”
The adjustments included having the linebackers take a deeper drop on pass plays. The defensive line also adjusted in order to get more pressure on the quarterback.
Both adjustments worked. After getting sacked just once in the first half, Swartz was dropped two more times in the second half and was hurried into several incompletions. After going 11-for-17 for 100 yards and no interceptions in the first half, the Raiders were just 6-for-19 for 101 yards and three picks in the second half.
“Badger’s interception was a good example of the adjustments we made,” said Cronin. “He dropped back right where our coaches told him to be and he was there to make the play.”
The Raiders opened the game with a 52-yard drive that culminated on a 2-yard run by T.J. Belton, who was able to reach out and place the ball over the end line for the score.
Cardinal Newman drove to the Central Catholic 5-yard line on its first series, but had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Pat Brown.
It looked like the Cardinals might take the lead late in the second quarter when running back Joe Ferguson jumped over a Raider defender toward the end zone. However the ball popped loose and Biscevic recovered for Central Catholic in the end zone.
The Raiders then drove 80 yards on 16 plays, scoring on a 2-yard run by Belton with 46 seconds left in the first half.
That was the last score for the Raiders, however, until Thomas Orth caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Trinkler with 15 seconds remaining.
By then, Cardinal Newman had added a fifth second-half touchdown on a 65-yard pass from Wright to Ferguson to build a 38-14 lead.
Wright completed 10 of 18 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown. He had one interception on the last play of the first half. Badger finished with 115 yards rushing on 10 carries, 93 of those yards coming in the second half. Ferguson added 68 yards on 11 carries.
Belton ran 18 times for 137 yards for the Raiders while Swartz completed 16 of 30 passes for 155 yards and two interceptions. Biscevic caught five passes for 44 yards while Orth had six catches for 75 yards.