Bar set high for Central Catholic

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 9, 2015

The road to a third consecutive Class 6A football championship has begun for Central Catholic High. Summer workouts and 7-on-7 tournaments began a few weeks ago.

“We’re trying to get stronger and get into shape,” Rams coach Steve Pyne says.

Central Catholic has an unusual philosophy, though, regarding offseason preparation: No spring football.

“Because we have so few kids at our school and have multiple-sport athletes with baseball and lacrosse, we just weren’t getting a lot out of (spring football), No. 1,” Pyne says. “And No. 2, we weren’t able to go for the full 10 days because of our finals schedule. We weren’t allowed to practice during finals week.”

So, the Rams began to look at spring football and say, “What are we doing? We’d go out there and drill for four or five days and then have to teach it all again in August,” Pyne says.

The Rams did play 7-on-7 games in Washington against Camas High and Eastside Catholic High on June 20, however, and took part in a tournament at Silverton High on June 27. This weekend, Central Catholic will play in another tournament, at Liberty High. And the 7-on-7’s will continue this summer against local high schools.

But Pyne takes a fairly laid back approach to them.

“Some guys get geeked up on winning 7-on-7,” he says. “For me, it’s all about our kids getting reps and getting better and learning from their mistakes. I don’t care if we win a 7-on-7 tournament.”

Overall, Pyne says he likes the returnees Central Catholic will have for the 2015 Oregon School Activities Association season.

“We’re going to be pretty talented in our skill positions,” he says. “We’re going to be young and inexperienced, but talented, in our offensive line. We’re going to be able to do some things, but we’re going to have to develop up front. We’re going to have to get a lot better as the season progresses. It’s not going to be about how good we are in Week 1, it’s how good we are in Week 10, when we go into the playoffs.”

The front-runner for Central Catholic’s starting quarterback job is expected to be senior Carson Spitznagel. He got some playing time beneath center last year, playing behind Sean Dack. Juniors DeAndre Smith and Jackson Cooper also could compete for the starter’s role at QB.

“Carson Spitznagal will be the senior kid,” Pyne says. “It will be his job to lose.”

Pyne is not opposed to having a two-quarterback system, but is looking at going with just one guy.

“It’s possible we would roll with two,” he says. “But if Carson can move us in the manner in which I think he can, we’d probably stick with one guy. We’ll do whatever the team needs.”

The Rams are counting on the return of tailback/safety Ronnie Rust for his senior year. Also a baseball star who has the potential to be drafted in that sport, Rust missed the 2015 spring season after tearing his labrum in the state championship football game last December.

“It was a freak deal,” Pyne says. “He just kind of landed on the ground with his arm down, and his labrum detached from the bone.”

Rust was not expected to be ready for action until the start of football season.

“He’s about 90 percent right now,” Pyne says. “He went and saw his orthopedic last week, and they bumped up his timeline by about a month. He’s doing really well.”

Rust will have plenty of help in the backfield from senior JJ Wells.

“You start with Ronnie,” Pyne says. “He’s a power runner and also has really good speed. JJ Wells is very elusive, hides behind the offensive line. He’s a one cut and gets north to south type of kid. We’ve got some other kids who we’ll see how they pan out to complement those guys. I’m not ready to ink them in until they show me what they can do.”

The Rams are likely to have other dynamic players who can do a lot with the ball in their hands — including seniors Brady Breeze, LaMar Winston and Parker Schafer and juniors Malik Thirdgill and Trey Davis.

“We’re going to have some depth at those skill positions,” Pyne says. “We’re excited by those possibilities.”

The Rams will rely heavily on senior Tobey Okafor to lead the line. And Central Catholic will have some talented juniors who can make an impact, players such as juniors Travis Mackay and Damon Stewart. The Rams also have some promising, albeit unproven, sophomores who could be good additions in the trenches.

“It starts and ends up front with Tobey Okafor,” Pyne says. “He’s probably the No. 1 lineman recruit in the state. Travis Mackay saw some time last year and has some potential. Damon Stewart played really well for us last year on JV and down the stretch with the varsity guys. Then we’re going to have a handful of sophomore kids who we really like, but they’re going to have to develop and show us they’re ready to play varsity football.”

Several of the Rams could play both offense and defense, but Pyne has learned to be careful with how much time each player spends on the field.

“Guys will see time both ways; they just won’t be every-down both ways,” Pyne says. “We’ve come to realize that when we play a guy every down both ways, he’s not very good at the end of the game because he gets really tired. We try to do a good job of managing their rest so when they’re in the game they can play at full speed.”

Central Catholic surely will send several players on to play football at the next level.

“Brady Breeze is committed to Oregon,” Pyne says. “LaMar is going to make his announcement today at The Opening (a prep football invitational event at Nike headquarters near Beaverton). Tobey is looking toward a Cal type of school. He has an offer from them, and eight or nine other offers. He’s looking academic first. Ronnie Rust and JJ Wells haven’t gotten any offers yet, but I would imagine they will have some interest before it’s all said and done.”

The Rams will face one of the best prep football teams in the country again this season. St. John Bosco is set to travel from Bellflower, Calif., for a game on Friday, Sept. 11, at Hillsboro Stadium.

Last season, Central Catholic traveled to St. John Bosco, who had been ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Rams were tied 14-14 with two minutes to go in the third quarter, but wound up falling 42-14.

That will be Central Catholic’s second game of 2015; the opener is Sept. 4 at Jesuit.

Then comes a Sept. 18 game at Oregon City, the first of seven Mt. Hood Conference match-ups that will lead into the 6A playoffs.

Pyne says this year’s Rams team is hungry to leave its own mark.

“These kids have an expectation of themselves,” he says. “The bar has been raised. You’ve got a new group, and they’re hungry to be a part of that legacy. They were sophomores and juniors last year. They want to be the seniors and juniors who have a say in this thing and potentially leave a legacy.”