CORONA — Dominick Catalano was a ball boy a decade ago when his brother Anthony quarterbacked Centennial’s football program to back-to-back CIF Southern Section championships in 2014 and 2015.
Dominick, now a senior, dreamed about one day being handed the keys to Centennial’s vaunted offense.
Catalano saw some action last year as an injury replacement, but he is the unquestioned starter for the Huskies this season. Catalano delivered a fine performance, completing 23 of 36 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns as the Huskies cruised to a 42-14 victory over Servite in Friday’s season opener.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this,” Catalano said. “I’m super excited, just trying to take it all in.”
Centennial needed only three plays to score its first touchdown of the season. Catalano threw a dart over the middle to Keawe Browne, who stayed on his feet and turned the play into a 65-yard scoring play.
After a special teams mistake by Servite gave Centennial a short field, Ty Plinski made a spectacular catch that ended up No. 1 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays. Catalano chased down a low snap, then tossed a ball to the back of the end zone. Plinski leaped and made a one-handed, backhanded catch.
“He does that every day in practice,” Centennial coach Matt Logan said of Plinski. “It looks a bit goofy because his arms and legs are moving all over the place. But he always seems to make the catches.”
Catalano’s third touchdown pass was a shovel pass to Malaki Davis that resulted in a 34-yard scoring play.
Servite had a chance to jump back into the game late in the first quarter. The Friars had first-and-goal inside the 2 but failed to punch the ball in. To make matters worse, Centennial then pieced together a 21-play, 99-yard drive that included three successful conversions on fourth down. Davis capped that grueling drive with a 4-yard run that gave the Huskies a 28-0 lead with 6:54 left in the second period.
Davis scored a third touchdown, a 20-yard run that extended the lead with 15 seconds left to halftime.
“We had about as bad of a first half as a team could possibly have,” Servite coach Chris Reinert said. “It was one of things where there was a comedy of errors. Credit to Centennial. They made the plays and did their job. But there were a lot of self-inflicted mistakes. So I challenged our guys at halftime.”
The second half also did not start well for Servite, as Kale Murphy’s pass was intercepted by Augus Saunders on the first play of the new quarter. But the defense stepped up, forcing one turnover on downs and recovering a fumble to end another drive. Servite ended its scoring drought midway through the third quarter, when Jacob Jackson took a jet sweep and outraced defenders for a 5-yard scoring run.
Catalano capped his big night when he and Browne connected on a 10-yard touchdown play in the fourth.
Servite scored a touchdown in the final minutes, when Murphy fired a 19-yard pass to Benjamin Harris.
Davis finished with 115 yards from scrimmage, and Zander Lewis ran for a team-high 89 yards in his Centennial debut. Browne finished with four catches for 101 yards.
Murphy completed 15 of 24 passes for 96 yards in his debut for Servite. Gavin Gutierrez was another bright spot for the Friars’ offense, as he amassed 98 yards from scrimmage.
This marks the first time since 2022 that Centennial has opened a season with a victory. The Huskies opened with Mater Dei each of the previous two seasons. Centennial plays Santa Margarita next week.
“It feels good to be 1-0 again,” Logan said with a laugh. “It’s only one game, but it’s still a good feeling.”
Servite will return to the Inland Empire next week to play at Murrieta Valley
“You try to set a marker as to what you want the identity of your team to be,” Reinert said. “Until you’re under fire, it’s hard to establish that. We’ll look at things from tonight that can help define that identity.”