Prep football: Central Catholic too much for Monterey Trail in Division I battle
Monterey Trail head coach T.J. Ewing and his team understood the assignment. They understood that it would be the toughest one of their 2022 season.
As one of the most successful prep football programs in the Sacramento region over the last decade without a Sac-Joaquin Section championship to show for it, Monterey Trail had a chip on its shoulder coming into Friday’s game against Central Catholic of Modesto.
The Mustangs sought to avenge last year’s 11-point section finals loss to the Raiders at the Division II level. After drawing a No. 4 seed and a first-round bye, Monterey Trail had that chance, now at the D-I level, at home.
But Central Catholic, one of the most prestigious programs in the section with 20 blue banners, rolled to a 56-29 win to put an end to the Mustangs’ season. It was the first home playoff loss in Monterey Trail’s 19-year existence in the Elk Grove Unified School District.
“Take a boxing match, right? (We’re) like a Golden Gloves (fighter) going against a heavyweight champion. And their hands are so fast,” Ewing said. “It’s just too much.”
Aside from Grant, which entered the Metro League after a handful of down seasons in the Sierra Foothill League, Ewing acknowledges that his team is somewhat of a big fish in a small pond, as far as league play goes. Monterey Trail and Grant were the only two Metro League teams to reach the postseason.
“We haven’t played anybody tough in a long time,” Ewing said. “(Central Catholic) played (St. John) Bosco for God’s sakes. ... If you run into a team like this in the first round, it’s gonna be a tough day.”
Monterey Trail could not stop senior running back Tyler Jacklich, who ran for 281 yards and four touchdowns. In facing a parochial school, Ewing quipped that Jacklich ran “like a demon.”
“They’ve been winning for millions of years,” Ewing said. “We have so much respect for them, and they deserve to be at the level they’re at.”
The Raiders led 7-0 after the first quarter and 21-7 at halftime. Central Catholic had rushing scores from quarterback Tyler Wentworth, Joel Roberts and Jacklich. Ali Collier had the Mustangs’ lone score of the first half.
Then Jacklich took over in the second half, scoring on three consecutive Raiders possessions to balloon the lead to 42-7.
Collier broke for a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown that sparked some life into the Mustangs with four minutes left in the third.
Wentworth then hit Trace Hernandez and Roberts for touchdown strikes on the following Central Catholic possessions. Collier and Daelin Ellis added touchdowns for the Mustangs to cap the scoring at 56-29.
Monterey Trail concludes its season at 8-3, after going 6-0 in the Metro League, while Central Catholic now faces top-seed Folsom next Friday in a semifinal.
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.