Rangers win mud bowl battle
By Jesse Phelps

The Catlett brothers weren't going to let Nordhoff lose another heartbreaker to Santa Paula. Not for a third year in a row and not with the league title potentially in the balance.

On a stormy night with the rain pouring down, on a field with lots of mud and very little traction, Josh Catlett took over the offensive load for an injured Will Strong, powering through the muck for 154 yards and two first half touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, it was little brother Casey Catlett doing the most damage for the Rangers, recording 15 tackles and an interception to help seal the Rangers' 14-13 victory over a rival that had broken the hearts of Nordhoff faithful two straight years.

With the win, Nordhoff (7-1, 5-0) solidified its No. 2 position in the CIF Southern Section Division IX rankings, setting up a showdown with top-ranked league rival Oaks Christian at home next Friday.

The Rangers trailed by seven after one quarter, thanks to a 70-yard fumble return from Santa Paula's Spencer Fox. That's when the elder Catlett got things going.

His first touchdown came on a play in which he broke several tackles before springing loose for a 56-yard scoring scamper.

"I just cut it back and I was just wide open. No back cuts or anything, I was just gone," said Catlett.

The muddy conditions made their presence known on the ensuing play, however, when the Rangers failed to even the score because the point after sailed wide.

However, the defense held Santa Paula and Andy Doyle got the Rangers into great field position for its next drive with a 19-yard punt return to the the Cardinal 39. Catlett carried most of the offensive load on the drive, finishing it off with his second score, a 2-yard run. Now leading 12-7, the Rangers went for two and got it on a misdirection play to Paul Chesser.

Those two points would end up providing the winning margin, as Nordhoff was unable to get anything going offensively in the second half. Meanwhile, the Cardinals got back into the game behind the quickness of running back Tony Manzano, who seemed to get the call on every play of the third quarter for the Santa Paula offense.

On its first posession of the half, Santa Paula drove from the Nordhoff 45. Aided by a 15-yard face mask penalty against the Rangers and a 23-yard burst by Manzano, to the Nordhoff 1, it took only three plays for the Cardinals to score.

After Manzano punched it in, Santa Paula lined up for the game-tying PAT. But again the muddy conditions forced a bad kick and this time, Nordhoff escaped still leading by a point.

That was all the margin the Rangers would need. In the middle of the fourth quarter, just when it looked like Santa Paula was driving for the go-ahead score, it was little brother's turn to make a big play. Having started at its own 21, the Santa Paula offense was suddenly in high gear. Manzano broke off consecutive runs of 19, 5 and 15 yards to set up a first-and-10 at the Nordhoff 41. After another Manzano run was stuffed ner the line of scrimmage, Santa Paula coaches elected to go to the air. Big mistake.

Doyle tipped the pass, which found its way into the waiting hands of Casey Catlett, and the Cardinal threat was repelled.

Josh Catlett said he had fun playing defense with his brother. "(Casey) fills those holes," he said. "He helped me a couple of times, filling them for me and stopping them for losses."

Nordhoff coach Cliff Farrar agreed, saying, "For a sophomore he gets great reads. He reminds me of Russel. My son Russel got great reads like that."

Nordhoff killed four minutes on its next possession and, with the game on the line and the time short, the Cardinals were forced to pass when they got the ball back.

Good-looking passes were few and far between on this rainy night and the drive stalled before it began. The game ended as Nordhoff quarterback Ryan Whitcomb took a knee to run out the clock.
Farrar paid his respects to both Catlett brothers after the game.

"(Casey) does a great job as a sophomore linebacker for us. Josh, I call him Big Cat, he just ran well tonight. He carried the load."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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