Seton Catholic football team climbs to new heights in 38-27 win over Castle Rock

It’s no longer a secret in the 1A Trico League — the Seton Catholic football team has arrived as a legitimate contender.

The Cougars already put themselves on the map with a 5-0 start, building on two previous promising seasons, but after their 38-27 home win over Trico League foe Castle Rock on Friday, they’ve ascended to a level the program hasn’t reached since its inception in 2011.

Win number six marks a new season high for the Cougars (6-0, 3-0 Trico League), and to get there, they had to go through a Rockets team that had won all nine of the previous head-to-head matchups.

“We’re making history, and every week it’s something to remember for the rest of your life,” junior running back Jacob Williams said. “The whole team is thankful for each other and thankful for God to give us these opportunities.”

Williams rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns, while junior Joe Callerame added two touchdowns, a 24-yard rushing score and an 82-yard kickoff return to open the game.

Thanks to that kickoff return, Seton Catholic played with the lead for the entirety of the game, including a 17-7 lead at halftime after the Cougars forced a fumble and twice turned the Rockets over on downs in the opening 24 minutes.

That defensive trend continued into the third quarter when Callerame came up with a tackle for loss on a Castle Rock fourth-down outside run, once again setting up the Cougars to add to their lead. They did, in fact, by calling Williams’ number on eight straight run plays to the tune of 71 yards, including a 5-yard rushing touchdown to finish off the drive.

“I think really it comes down to those days where you’re conditioning and you know, I can push through this no matter what,” Williams said. “We’re capable of so much more than you really think, and we’ve really kind of unlocked that as a team and everybody individually. So you could really see it (tonight).”

Seton Catholic forced and recovered a fumble on Castle Rock’s next drive. Two plays later, Callerame found an open lane and outran the Rockets’ defense en route to a 25-yard touchdown, giving the Cougars their largest lead, 31-7, with 4 minutes, 19 seconds left in the third.

“Our line balled out today,” Callerame said. “You can’t put it any other way. They make a hole, I just run through it.”

Castle Rock opened the fourth quarter with a scoring drive capped off by a Nolan Williams 19-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Trevor Rogen, and later added a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Ian Burton, who rushed for 137 yards on 24 carries, to trim Seton’s lead to 11 points.

The Cougars ran out the final three minutes and change of the clock, with Williams gaining the final, game-clinching first down.

PASSING — Castle Rock: Rogen 16-23-0-216; Seton Catholic: Kolten Gesser 8-16-0-76.

RECEIVING — Castle Rock: Langdon 7-122, Burton 3-28, Nolan Williams 4-50, Aiden Mead 1-7, Ryker Heller 1-9; Seton Catholic: Ruelas 3-27, Ryan Stuck 1-2, Callerame 1-20, Teddy Wieczorek 2-14, Kaiden Wilson 1-13.