Central Catholic football coach Roger Canepa can reach major milestone with win on Friday

Roger Canepa has about a million stories.

That’s what comes with a coaching career that spans nearly four decades with numerous titles and more than 280 wins.

Canepa has spent time as head coach of Sonora and Calaveras and is in his 16th season at Central Catholic.

He has done everything from helping build a football program to dominance to taking over a state championship program and continuing an established legacy.

His next accomplishment will only add to the legend that is coach Canepa.

After tying longtime Escalon High coach Mark Loureiro at 282 career wins with a 63-7 victory over Sierra, Canepa has the chance to become the section’s all-time wins leader with a defeat of Edison-Stockton in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I quarterfinals Friday night, according to statewide high school sports records site CalHi Sports.

But he didn’t even know it.

“I told him that I was rooting for him, but we got to get to the playoffs,” Loureiro said. “We gotta get through this thing, man. We gotta get you this record and get it done this year.”

Loureiro has been one of Canepa’s biggest supporters. They met coaching at the Lions All-Star Game. They spent many years coaching against each other and Loureiro has spent the years since his retirement from Escalon helping Canepa coach.

Because he lives in Tahoe now, he can’t make it to as many games as he would like, but he often makes the trip back to see his good friend. When Central Catholic played Bishop Manogue in Reno earlier this season, Loureiro made sure he was at the game.

“Me and Roger are tight,” Loureiro said. “We talk every day, maybe more than once a day, bouncing ideas off each other’s head or sharing film and look at next opponent’s film.”

Canepa believes “coach Lou” finished his career ahead in the head-to-head series. Loureiro agrees.

What Loureiro also knows is that there is no one else he’d rather have break his record.

“Oh, man, I’m happy. I mean, if anybody deserves this, to have the most wins ever, it’s him,” he said. “I was a coach for 30 years plus, and nobody puts as much time as far as coaching, film work off the field, fundraising, facility improvements at the high school level. Not even close. I’m proud for him. I’m happy for him. I had a couple people say, ‘Are you bummed that he’s gonna get it?’ No. I would rather have my best friend get it knowing firsthand how much time he puts into it.”

Canepa can tell you about the wins and can tell you even more about the losses.

“That’s the good thing about my memory,” he said with a chuckle. “I tell people I think I can remember almost every game I lost. That means you hate losing.”

He can also talk about a time when he almost stepped away from coaching altogether.

After his time as an assistant and co-head coach at Sonora, Canepa interviewed for a job at Hughson High. Though it was a job he really wanted, he did not get it. He nearly turned down the offer to coach at Calaveras. He took the Calaveras coaching job in 1998, according to Bee archives.

“I loved coaching,” Canepa said. “I had good coaches when I was in high school and college. All my coaches I loved, so I wanted to give back. … I (also) wanted to prove to everybody I could make it.”

After 10 seasons at Calaveras, he succeeded legendary coach Mike Glines at Central Catholic. Glines had a 205-32-4 record in two stints spanning 22 years with the Raiders.

In Central Catholic’s 2015 season opener, when it beat Atwater, 49-0, Canepa became one of a handful of Sac-Joaquin Section coaches to earn 200 victories. The Raiders went on to have a perfect season that year, going 16-0 and winning their fourth straight state title with the likes of Jared Rice, Hunter Pentlansky and current Dallas Cowboys defensive back DaRon Bland on the roster.

Raiders teams have continued to have success during Canepa’s time. Their most recent section title marked the section-best 20th in program history.

“It’s always been a ‘we’ thing through my whole career,” Canepa said. “We don’t win games without the players, coaches, boosters and everybody. I don’t like to make it about me.”

Through his career, the defensive-minded Canepa has coached teams to the rare 2-0 victory where the only points scored were on a safety. He recalls a year as a defensive coordinator where he called the shots for a unit that gave up one touchdown in 13 games and embraced the nickname “The Mountain of Misery,” and at Central Catholic, he led teams to four straight state titles from 2012-2016. In 2021, Canepa led the Raiders to a D-II section title and an appearance in the Division 2-AA state title game.

But he wouldn’t dare pick a favorite.

“Everybody would kill me,” he joked.

Canepa says he hasn’t thought too much about the fact that he can become the section’s winningest coach Friday night. What he has thought about, however, is defensive alignment of safeties and linebackers, blocking schemes of the powerful offensive line and routes skill players will run.

While he is chasing his own record, the Raiders are chasing yet another playoff win.

This is their second season in the section’s Division I bracket due to the ‘Continued Success’ rule.

The Raiders take on an Edison team that finished 9-2 overall and won the San Joaquin Athletic Association title. The Vikings beat Gregori in the first round, 48-6. The Raiders earned a first round bye with their No. 2 seed in Division I.

While the record looms, the most important thing to Canepa is that the Raiders advance to their second straight Division I semifinal.

“Let’s put it in perspective here: That win to move on is way more important than a number on my career win total,” Canepa said. “We’re going to get prepared like it’s a championship game. Coming off of a bye, you have to be ready to play. I tell our kids, in the regular season, we’re playing 10 games. But in the playoffs, if you lose you go home, you’re not guaranteed anything.”