Prep football: Capital Christian cruises past Wood in return to postseason play
.jpeg "Capital Christian coach Saul Patu talks to his players after beating Wood in the playoffs on Nov. 4, 2022.")
The Capital Christian Cougars returned from their playoff ban and put together a complete performance Friday night against Wood in a Division IV postseason opener, winning 48-13.
The No. 7-seeded Cougars were forced to play on the road in Vacaville despite being a higher seed than the No. 10 Wildcats. The program remains on probation after participating in a short-lived club football league during the COVID-19 pandemic, which means all their remaining playoff games must be played away from their Sacramento campus.
Yet the Cougars on Friday appeared unencumbered.
“We’ve got some really good kids, really good families that make up this program,” head coach Saul Patu told The Bee. “So they’ve responded, they’ve gotten better every week, they’ve corrected and fixed their own mistakes.”
Capital Christian scored on its first offensive snaps of both halves while the defense pitched a shutout for much of the game. Stars Kanye Clark and Malakai Taione Tauataina combined for six touchdowns and proved to be all but unstoppable for the Wildcat defense. Clark had two receiving touchdowns from quarterback Eddie Brusuelas and added a 58-yard scoring run out of the wildcat formation on the opening play of the third quarter.
“He does that — he’s been doing that for us. Kanye was being Kanye tonight,” Patu said. “He’s a threat to score any time he touches the ball. Dynamic player. So we’re just lucky to have him and blessed to be able to have him — hopefully for five more games.”
Clark, a senior who runs in the 10.6-second neighborhood in the 100-meter dash, has received offers from Pac-12 schools and is expected to visit Washington State in the near future. He plays safety and receiver.
Taione Tauataina is only a sophomore at running back, but used his speed to knife through Wood’s defense and run away from defenders even if it appeared defenders had angles to slow him down. He scored two rushing touchdowns and had another on a screen pass.
“We expect big things out of him every game. He’s that kind of talent,” said Patu. “He’ll be playing at the next level when it’s his time. But he’s done a phenomenal job, and our line has done a great job of making sure they can create holes for him.”
The Cougars controlled the game in the trenches on both sides. The offensive line, bolstered by senior Ty Kubicek, who is also garnering interest from Division I colleges, allowed the running game to remain in rhythm throughout. Brusuelas was also comfortable from the pocket.
Wood’s only points came on a Darius Hickenbottom kickoff return touchdown and pick-six from cornerback Zaire Fortune.
Next up for the Cougars is a trip to play No. 2 seed Casa Roble, which is coming off a bye after finishing 9-1 in the regular season and 5-0 to win the Golden Empire League. Friday’s win for Capital Christian was their fourth in a row after getting off to a 1-5 start to the regular season with losses to San Diego powerhouse Lincoln, Bishop Diego (Santa Barbara) and Rocklin.
They’ve rebounded to win their last four games by combined scores of 214-65. Wood, meanwhile, ended its seasons with four-straight losses after a 5-2 start to the season.
Capital Christian was initially dealt a two-year postseason ban by the CIF for its involvement in the CAPS League, a club football league that was organized during the pandemic in response to the statewide health order preventing organized sports. The school leased its field and equipment to a club team that was ran by Patu and the school’s athletic director, Aaron Garcia.
The two-year ban was lowered to one year when the school and Sac-Joaquin Section came to an agreement over the summer, which included putting the program on probation, meaning no home playoff games this fall.
