PARKER — This is not the same Regis Jesuit team that opened flatly against Cherry Creek.
“No, it’s not,” said Raiders coach Mark Nolan.
Thursday, the Raiders flattened Rock Canyon 48-14 at Sports Authority Stadium, their fourth victory in a row. In opening the new Continental North League, Regis Jesuit, No. 6 in The Associated Press Class 5A media poll, progressed further.
“We’re getting better in all areas,” Nolan said.
It began behind quarterback Matt Houghtaling. The senior zipped a pass on the opening snap for 37 yards and the Raiders took off — they scored twice early, sat on the Jaguars regularly and made it just a matter of time before they had them under the 40-point mercy rule.
Regis Jesuit is 4-1 overall, 1-0 in league, and eager to keep it going.
“These past four weeks have been a lot of work,” Houghtaling said. “We’ve just been trying to get better each game.”
Said Nolan: “It’s cliché-ish — one game at a time, just trying to get a little better, but it’s true.”
It’s working for the Raiders, who rolled to 488 total yards, 331 rushing. Most of it came in the opening half, when they built a 34-7 lead and ran freely for 224 yards.
Houghtaling threw for two touchdowns (to Cameron Matt and Kyle Johnson) and ran for another. Jared Marien, Gabe Holt-Jones, Eddie Gonzales and Michael Pavlakovich added rushing scores.
For Rock Canyon, the third-year 5A Jaguars are 1-4, 0-1 and have stalled after winning their opener.
Regis Jesuit 14 20 14 0 — 48
Rock Canyon 7 0 0 7 — 14
RJ — Matt 4 pass from Houghtaling (Fry kick). RJ — Marien 4 run (Fry kick). RC — Brady 22 pass from R. Hommel (Cuda kick). RJ — Holt-Jones 1 run (Fry kick). RJ — Houghtaling 18 run (Fry kick). RJ — Johnson 9 pass from Houghtaling (Fry kick). RJ — Gonzales 1 run (Fry kick). RJ — Pavlakovich 1 run (Fry kick). RC — R. Hommel 57 run (Cuda kick).
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
