Two dominant backs in Joey Alcutt and Wes Burford are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Central Catholic Raiders will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Oakdale Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Central Catholic is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their matchup at home on Friday with ease, bagging a 49-14 victory over East Union. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 89th, while the Lancers are ranked 312th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Carter Meeks was a one-man wrecking crew for Central Catholic as he rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries. The dominant performance gave Meeks a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Chase Perino, who picked up 66 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Central Catholic didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Titus Leota and Scotty Hallmon. Leota also set a new season high mark in total tackles with six.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Central Catholic was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 263 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as East Union only rushed for 82.
Meanwhile, Oakdale came tearing into Friday's game with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27.4 points) and they left with even more momentum. They took down the Tigers 56-40.
Burford continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 381 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 14.7 yards per carry. That high mark didn't come from nowhere: he posted at least 143 rushing yards in the seventh games prior.
Central Catholic now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Oakdale, their win was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-1.
Central Catholic took their victory against Oakdale in their previous meeting back in October of 2023 by a conclusive 64-39. Does Central Catholic have another victory up their sleeve, or will Oakdale turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
