Central Catholic looks like defending state champs against Jesuit

HILLSBORO — The feeling may have been surreal, a little weird and not your average Friday night in high school football, but Central Catholic and Jesuit both could agree on one thing.

Being back on the field will never be taken for granted amid the COVID-19 pandemic that delayed the start of the prep sports season across Oregon.

”You don’t realize that you’re really back until you get that first kickoff,” Central Catholic senior Myles Broadous said. “I think as soon as I heard that first whistle, it all just settled in.”

Defending state champ Central Catholic led wire-to-wire and took down powerhouse Jesuit 35-6 in the opening week of a six-game schedule on Friday night at Hillsboro Stadium.

”Our energy and enthusiasm on the field was really good, which is a challenge when there’s not a lot of hype in the stands and stuff,” Rams coach Steve Pyne said. “So I thought our kids did a good job manufacturing some energy.”

Central Catholic junior quarterback Luke Johnson was superb in his first varsity start, completing 21 of 35 passes for 275 yards to go with four touchdowns and just one interception.

His three touchdown passes in the second quarter gave the Rams a dominant 21-0 lead at halftime.

”Luke looked mature for his first start,” Pyne said. “He hung in the pocket really well. He’s got to work on being more consistent on delivering balls, but overall I was pleased.”

Johnson hit junior wide receiver Jordan King for two touchdowns in the first half — an 11-yard and 18-yard connection. King is expected to be the Rams’ leading receiver, taking over the role left by Silas Star, who is playing at Stanford.

”We’ve been throwing all summer just getting ready for this,” Johnson said of King, who had six catches for 90 yards. “All fall, all summer, all spring throwing to him, so I knew it’s a blessing having him out there because he’s such a threat. Even when he doesn’t have the ball, they’re double-teaming him.”

Jesuit scored its lone touchdown on a 58-yard run by junior Michael Rincon, who finished with 23 carries for a game-high 153 yards, to cut the lead to 21-6 with 9:09 left in the third. But the Crusaders did not score again.

Jesuit had three other opportunities inside the red zone in the second half, including two trips inside the 5-yard line, but struggled to convert them into scores.

Jesuit senior lineman Charlie Pickard, a preferred walk-on to Oregon, said a lack of execution hurt in getting the game close.

”Whether we’re on our own 1-yard line or their 1-yard line, the mentality has got to be the same,” Pickard said. “We need to drive the ball in. We’ve got to finish because that’s seven points on the board.

”We just didn’t execute, and that’s got to be our No. 1 goal going into the next game.”

The Rams put the game away in the fourth after Johnson’s final touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Stryder Todd-Fields on a 10-yard completion. Broadous capped the victory with a 92-yard interception return with 32 seconds to play.

”You’ve got to be in that moment to really know what it feels like,” Broadous said of the pick-six. “Shoutout to my whole entire defense for getting down and blocking for me. It was a great feeling to end the game.”

For Jesuit (0-1), its biggest challenge will be incorporating nearly an entire new offensive and defensive personnel. The Crusaders return just two starters on offense and one on defense from a team that reached the semifinals in 2019.

”A lot of kids haven’t played a varsity football game before,” Jesuit coach Ken Potter said. “I think they got more comfortable as the game went on, but we didn’t make enough plays, and that’s what you have to do against good teams.”

Jesuit junior quarterback Tatum Lewis finished 7 of 18 for 103 yards and an interception in his first start.

With no postseason and state championship to defend this season, Pyne said Central Catholic’s goal is to give his seniors as much playing time as possible, while also developing his younger players in time for this fall season to prepare for another run.

”It felt good to see the kids having fun and competing … and giving kids an opportunity to play,” Pyne said.

Junior wide receiver Xavier Simpson added three catches for 30 yards and a touchdown for the Rams. Junior linebacker Zach Grisham also had an interception.

Players and coaches from both teams said they were “comfortable” playing the game, and expressed there were no concerns with COVID-19 as everyone wore masks on and off the field.

”Thanking god every day that I have this opportunity and play the game I love,” Broadous said. “I know a lot of guys may not see the field again after this year, and even though it’s only six games, we’re all really grateful to be here in this situation.”