Jesuit Runs Over CB in Holy Bowl

The again showed their dominance over their private high school rivals on Saturday with a 36-12 blowout win over Christian Brothers in the 41st annual Holy Bowl.

The Big Red ran over the Falcons all night long and the Jesuit defense shut out CB until the final five minutes of the game before a crowd estimated at about 13,000 at Sacramento City College's Hughes Stadium.

Senior running backs Patrick Barrientes and Cameron Todd each scored two touchdowns. Todd ran for 235 yards and Barrientes had an interception.

"It's great to win tonight, especially in my senior year," Barrientes said after the game, adding that the seniors are 4-0 in the Holy Bowl (including freshman and JV games). "We struggled on defense the first couple games but the D won the game for us tonight."

Barrientes started the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run at about the eight-minute mark of the first quarter. Todd got in the end zone on a 21-yard run at about 10:35 in the second quarter to put the Marauders up 13-0 at halftime, following a failed kick.

Senior J.T. Frank had an interception in the second quarter.

"Our pre-game talk was about passion and playing with heart," Frank said. "Our offense ran it down their throats; (CB) couldn't stop our running backs."

Barrientes ran 21 yards for a score at about the 7:10 mark of the third quarter; the kick failed. He got the interception about 30 seconds later.

With about 5:20 left in the quarter, Jesuit senior kicker Andrew Nave kicked a 45-yard field goal. 6-5 sophomore wide receiver Lake Lutes had a 16-yard touchdown catch from senior quarterback Mason Pigman with about one minute to go in the third.

Pigman made only his second varsity start at quarterback in place of junior Thomas Sperbeck, who suited up Saturday and got in on a few plays while still recovering from mononucleosis. Sperbeck is the son of Sacramento State coach Marshall Sperbeck, who played at Christian Brothers.

Todd ran the ball in for Jesuit from three yards out just seconds into the fourth quarter. With the Marauders ahead 36-0, the rest of the game went to a running clock, following CIF rules.

Christian Brothers finally got on the board with about five minutes left when junior wide reciever Jalen Walker caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from junior back-up quarterback Caden Noon, who ran the ball in from 14 yards on the final play of the game. The Falcons went for two-point conversions on both plays but the passes failed, leading to the final score.

"Our defense is improving week after week; (assistant coach) Mike Catapano had them ready tonight," said Jesuit Coach Dan Carmazzi. "Turnovers for CB was the key tonight; we pressured their quarterback."

Carmazzi has coached Jesuit for 31 years but he was a CB quarterback in the first two Holy Bowl games (1969 and 1970) and he first coached in the series in 1976 while on the Falcons staff, The Sacramento Bee reported. Carmazzi's sons- Matt, Gio and Dominic- never lost to CB in the past 20 years (Gio was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers out of Hofstra in 2000).

The Holy Bowl truly is a family affair.

"You can't beat the rivalry," Carmazzi said. "With the kids and the alumni, it's what high school football is all about."

Jesuit now leads the all-time series 25-15-2. With the win, Jesuit is 2-1 on the season, splitting home contests with and . The Marauders next host Franklin of Elk Grove on Sept. 24.

Christian Brothers is 0-4 and next hosts Whitney of Rocklin on Sept. 24.

In Saturday's freshman game, Jesuit won 20-0 and the Marauders took the JV game as well, 7-0 in a defensive battle, for the Holy Bowl sweep.

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See an audio slideshow from the Holy Bowl .