What will California RB Jarious Hogan do for an encore after record-breaking game at famed Kezar Stadium?

St. Ignatius junior running back broke a West Catholic League record last week with six touchdowns in his team's rivalry game at famed Kezar Stadium and now closes regular season against Archbishop Mitty

St. Ignatius senior RB Jarious Hogan rushed for 265 yards and five touchdowns and added a TD reception in a 45-28 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar Stadium on Nov. 1. / Photo: Eric Taylor

Jarious Hogan is always up for a good challenge. But besting last week's performance in St. Ignatius' most important game of the year will be hard to beat.

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior running back beat everyone's best in West Catholic Athletic League history in one of the most famed high school stadiums on the West Coast, Kezar Stadium.

Hogan rushed for a career high 37 times for 265 yards and scored a WCAL record six touchdowns — five rushing and one receiving — in a 45-28 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral in the 101st meeting between the rival San Francisco Schools.

Known as the Bruce-Mahoney game to honor two World War II veterans from each school who lost their lives, the game draws more than 5,000 fans each year and helps to decide who brings home the trophy.

Hogan did more than his part as the Wildcats piled up a season high in yards (548) and points while extending their series edge to 64-30-7. Friday he hopes his Wildcats (7-2) close out the regular season with a win over Mitty at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.

Family genes

"My weekend was great," Hogan texted. "It was very enjoyable to set a WCAL record during my last Bruce Mahoney game. I did receive several congratulation texts, posts, and repost regarding me breaking the record from several family members and friends."

Hogan has a lot of family and friends, mostly around athletic circles.

His mom Tanisha Cooks-Hogan), dad James Hogan and uncle Antonio Cooks all starred at Washington High School in basketball, track and football.

Cooks-Hogan won two AAA basketball titles, Cooks led Washington to a 1997 undefeated football season and another uncle — Patrick Cooks helped Jefferson-Daly City to a state basketball title. Hogan’s sister Taliah Hogan will be on the Gateway varsity basketball team. 

St. Ignatius senior tailback Jarious Hogan reaches out to get a first down in a 45-28 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral in the 101st meeting between the two teams. Hogan rushed for 265 yards and scored a West Catholic Athletic League record six touchdowns on Nov. 1, 2024. / Photo: Eric Taylor

"I’ve been playing football since the age of 5," he said. "I’ve played for the SF Bombers, SF Seahawks, and SF 49er’s (PAL). I have always been a running back and also played safety, punt returner, kick returner, and cornerback."

But running the ball has turned to his speciality in high school. This is his third year as a starter and last season he made first-team All-WCAL.

With Friday's big game, he's nearly rushed for 1,000 yards to go along with 15 touchdowns.

St. Ignatius coach Lenny Vandermade wasn’t planning on giving Hogan that many carries Friday, but “as I was told as a young coach, ‘make them stop it before you go away from it.’ And with Texas-bound left tackle John Mills, all 6-foot-6, 330 of him, paving the way, and Hogan’s newly inspired running style, the Wildcats couldn’t be stopped. 

No challenge too great

Senior back Shane Molinari also rushed seven times for 72 yards leading to a season-high 358 team rushing yards. With quarterback Soren Hummel throwing for 190 yards on an efficient 9 of 13, including his 13-yard TD to Hogan, St. Ignatius kept scoring because Sacred Heart Cathedral pushed them to the brink.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, Hogan was the perfect antecdote.

"His performance showed just how great of a player he is," Hummel said.

Said Vandermade: "He’s got very good balance, good vision and doesn’t shy away from contact or  challenge."

St. Ignatius Jarious Hogan (6) gashed Riordan for 114 yards and two touchdowns and had three catches for 44 yards and another score in a 41-34 loss in 2023. / Photo: Paul Ghiglieri/St. Ignatius

In fact, Vandermade gave Hogan a stern challenge after the Wildcats’ only WCAL loss, 27-13 at home on Oct. 18. Hogan rushed for two scores that game, but managed just 3.9 yards per his 16 carries for 63 yards. “I got on him to run harder, to not always go for the home run,” Vandermade said. “He didn’t take offense, but took it upon himself to listen, work even harder. He’s been pouring it on ever since. I’m proud of him.” 

Hogan’s athletic idols are two more Bay Area products in Marshawn Lynch and current Buffalo Bills backup Ray Davis, whose father Raymond played with Cooks as a youth in San Francisco. “I liked both Marshawn and Ray because they were both under-rated running backs from the Bay Area and beat the odds,” Hogan said. 

Hogan, without a college offer yet, hopes to beat the odds as well. 

Making them miss

He's already made a name for himself locally, though it's not always been pronounced correctly.

"Everyone pronounces it 'JAIR-ious,' instead of 'JAR-ious,' " Hogan said. "It's funn because the entire time I've played football, game announcers would always pronounce it incorrectly, even at home games."

Considering how often he got the ball Friday and how many times he made it into the end zone, that was a lot of miss-pronunciation.

Vandermade doesn't need a whole lot of misdirection plays with Hogan running the ball, said Hummel.

"Jarious has an ability to cut like something I haven’t seen," Hummel said. "He makes guys miss in open space almost every time and can lower his shoulder when need be."

He runs with great intensity and volume, Hummel said, which is against he general nature.

"Jarious is a quiet guy but he has an intensity to him when he gets out on the field," Hummel said. "He almost flips a switch when he gets out there."