At a glance

• WHAT: Patterson High football vs. Central Catholic

• WHEN: 5:30 p.m. (JV) and 7:30 p.m. (varsity) Friday, Nov. 6

• WHERE: Central Catholic High School, 200 S. Carpenter Road, in Modesto

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The Patterson High football team isn’t about to let up now.

After all, the Tigers are coming off a 62-31 homecoming rout of Livingston that has them in position to clinch at least a share of the Western Athletic Conference title, which they can do with a victory over Central Catholic in Modesto on Friday, Nov. 6.

“We have so much at stake, we know we can’t have a letdown,” Patterson receiver Wyatt Young said. “That’s why we’re playing this game like a championship game.”

Beating the Raiders (3-0 WAC, 7-1 overall) on Friday would assure Patterson (3-0, 5-3) a shot at a WAC championship, even with a final league game left against Hilmar (2-1, 7-1).

Still, Patterson coach Rob Cozart knows it won’t be easy.

Patterson hasn’t won a league championship since 1995. It’s been even longer — 18 seasons — since the Tigers defeated Central Catholic.

“We have a championship opportunity here,” Cozart said. “What we’ve been doing recently is focusing more on ourselves than on our opposition. We’re going to continue with that.

“This is a good opportunity for our kids and for our community.”

Last season, Hilmar became the first public school to beat Central Catholic since 2001, snapping the Raiders’ streak of seven consecutive section titles en route to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship.

Central Catholic is loaded again this year, with arguably one of the area’s top passers behind one of the top lines.

Dylan Swartz is at quarterback for the Raiders, and he has an offensive line anchored by 6-foot-3, 275-pound Matthew Galas and 6-3, 285-pound Tyler Lee.

Central Catholic coach Roger Canepa’s passing attack highlights the best aspects of Swartz’s game, and running back Billy Flamion will get direct snaps in the Wildcat formation.

“Central Catholic is very balanced,” Cozart said. “They’ve got great offensive and defensive lines. They’ve got some good size. Swartz kicks their passing game up a notch, and they’ve got some solid running backs.

“That’s going to be the balancing act for us on defense. We want to try and put ourselves in the best-case scenario on any given play, while eliminating their ability to keep us off track. We want to make sure that we are not caught off-guard.”

Cozart said he doesn’t want to rely solely on big plays from his offense. But he realizes they will factor into the outcome of Friday’s tilt.

“The team that has the most big plays is probably going to come out the winner in this one,” he said.

The Tigers know it’s a big game, but they’d remind you there will be one game remaining after Friday’s game is finished. Still, they relish the task at hand.

“I think the big games make it a lot easier,” Young said. “You see the types of upsets when people aren’t prepared and go into the games cocky. That’s never a concern for a big game, because that’s all everyone’s thinking about.”

Cozart thinks the constant hyping of each game should benefit the team, rather than act as a detriment.

“We want to make sure that we put things in a ‘championship game’ perspective,” he said. “We don’t necessarily want to focus on who we are playing, but more so on what’s at stake.”

The coach also said the Tigers’ early league schedule — pitting the team against lesser opponents Orestimba, Gustine and Livingston — will help, knowing they can give everything they have against the Raiders.

“As big of a game as it is for us, it’s just as big for (Central Catholic),” Young said. “It’s their biggest game so far; it’s our biggest game so far.”

• Contact Marc Aceves at 892-6187 or marc@pattersonirrigator.com.