Bishop Amat (La Puente, Calif.) at Centennial (Corona, Calif.)
Justin Ortiz, Bishop Amat
Photo by Ted Aguirre
Friday's other Pac 5 semifinal matches teams with only one collective win in this division's playoffs prior to this season. Centennial had no previous Pac 5 wins because it was assigned to the division just this year, while Amat had only advanced past the first round one time in five earlier Pac 5 playoff appearances. Last week, Centennial achieved its ninth-straight win and avenged one of its two losses with a 27-24 victory against Mater Dei (Santa Ana). The Huskies picked an opportune time for one of their best defensive efforts of the season with standout junior running back
JJ Taylor sitting out following appendix surgery. On the same night, Bishop Amat pulled one of the biggest surprises of the postseason when it knocked off then-No. 22 JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano), 24-17. Both Centennial (10-2) and Bishop Amat (9-3) have leaned on two different quarterbacks for production this season. Centennial junior
Anthony Catalano and senior
Nate Ketteringham have combined to throw for 3,100 yards and 27 touchdowns in a rotation system. Bishop Amat junior
Damian Garcia threw for 2,004 passing yards and 21 touchdowns during the first eight games of the year before injuring his ribs. Although Garcia is now back healthy, former backup junior
Ryder Ruiz appears locked into the starting role after producing 1,279 passing yards and 10 touchdowns in the last four games.
Follow live scoring of this game on Qwixcore Just the facts: This is the first CIF semifinal-round game for Bishop Amat since 1998. … Centennial has reached at least the semifinals of its division's playoffs every season since 2007.
Mitch Stephens: Centennial 42, Bishop Amat 38
Kevin Askeland: Centennial 45, Bishop Amat 42
Jamie DeMoney: Centennial 38, Bishop Amat 21
Stephen Spiewak: Centennial 42, Bishop Amat 34
Leland Gordon: Centennial 52, Bishop Amat 40
Colin Ward-Henninger: Centennial 42, Bishop Amat 35
