Corona Centennial (Calif.) looks to keep up with state's best

When you look around California high school football, it’s no secret that the top two teams in the state are Mater Dei and St. John Bosco. Programs like Corona Centennial embrace the challenge of competing against some of the nation’s best. The Huskies themselves are a nationally-ranked team and usually run into either the Monarchs or Braves at some point in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

Centennial assistant head coach Anthony Catalano feels very confident in this year’s team and their chances in keeping up with the state’s elites.

“Our kids kinda have the expectation that we’re gonna be,” Catalano said about being considered one of the nation’s top teams. “We know we are a top-25 team in the country every year. The standards are extremely high and our goal to win that state championship, so we know where we’re gonna be three competing against Mater Dei and St. John Bosco for the one and two spot.

“So that’s just the expectation is like well what do you do as a team each year to come together and try to just for us to get over that hump. It’s been a while since we’ve done it. We’ve been close a few times but that’s just the expectation is trying to focus on us and be in a position to beat those guys in November.”

There’s been close calls for Centennial against both Mater Dei and St. John Bosco over the last few years. In 2023, the Huskies fell to the Braves in a heartbreaking 43-42 postseason thriller. Against Mater Dei in 2021, Centennial came up just short in a 21-16 loss.

The Huskies haven’t upended either of the national giants since beating both Mater Dei and St. John Bosco in back-to-back weeks in 2015 before losing to De La Salle for the Open Division state championship.

It’s been a minute for the Huskies, but Catalano feels they might’ve closed the gap just a tad when it comes to the two adversaries.

What might be the difference maker is the talent on the defensive line for the Huskies, which features Cal commit Lucky Schirmer, 305-pound Eastern Washington commit Benjamin Tameifuna and 2027 Miles Schirmer, who has offers from programs like Notre Dame, Texas, Washington and USC.

“I think (Mater Dei and St. John Bosco) obviously reload every year,” Catalano said. “I don’t believe Bosco graduated much, but Mater Dei graduated a lot so for us in terms of what we bring back is a ton of starters on defense.

“We think we have the trenches to be able to compete with those guys which doesn’t necessarily happen on both sides of the ball each year. Like sometimes we’ll have a great offensive line and be a little bit smaller on the defensive line or vice versa. Our offensive line we have the size and the skill, not a lot of returners so it’s gonna be a kind of a work in progress throughout the season with those guys to get ready for the playoffs. But defensive line wise, come out and five Division 1 guys on the defensive line that are committed to schools. It puts us in a different category this year to be able to compete and kind of stop the run versus of those guys and make them be a little more one dimensional.”

What adds a little extra incentive in making this 2025 season a little more special for Catalano is the fact its his younger brother Dominick’s final high school football season.

As a junior last season, the younger Catalano shared time under center with Husan Longstreet, who is now at USC. Now in his senior season, Catalano (917 yards, seven touchdowns in 2024) will see the lion’s share of the snaps at quarterback, shaping up to being a special one with his older brother as head coach.

The older Catalano knows the pressures of playing quarterback for the Huskies, as he quarterbacked the team in 2014 and 2015. With experience in beating the Mater Dei’s and St. John Bosco’s of the world, he knows the high expectations will be there for his sibling this fall.

“(Dominick Catalano) been a program kid,” Catalano added. “He was a ball boy growing up in our program, so he’s been around and to be honest he’s my younger brother. He watched me grow up and play at the school in the system.

“We won two championships when I was a starter and play De La Salle in the state championship so it’s just kind of in it for him and he’s been around for a long time so it’s his turn. He knows what the program is. He knows the system. He knows everything that’s necessary to be successful. So it’s just a matter of doing his job, not doing too much. We don’t need them to be a five star recruit (Husan) Longstreet like last year. Just to be himself and we will be able to win a lot of games to be successful when it comes down to playing those best teams at the end.”