Central Catholic’s 21-7 victory Friday night was all you could ask for from a Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 quarterfinal game … more or less.

Certainly, football fans wouldn’t have minded seeing more of Raiders’ running back Craig Jones, who carried 26 times for 205 yards, with 149 coming in the second half. And it also was a great battle between two very good defenses.

But Central Catholic could have lived with a lot less over-aggression, and the Raiders themselves were the first to admit fault after committing a shocking six personal fouls.

“It’s not acceptable because doing that will cost us a big game,” said Raiders coach Roger Canepa. “We’ve had a little problem because we’re aggressive, but six personal fouls is unacceptable. I’m not going to stick up for my kids about this. We have to clean it up.”

Jones, a senior leader on the team, was equally mortified by the six personal fouls.

“I don’t understand it,” Jones said. “We’re just out here to play football and it’s just a game. Tempers get heated. We’re not trying to play dirty and we’re not a dirty team.

“We have to tighten that up because when you advance to play fantastic teams you can’t make 15-yard mistakes. This was unacceptable and it’s something we’re going to have to address this week.”

Jones already was aware that ahead for the Raiders is a semifinal showdown at Escalon next Friday, and thus his “fantastic team” tip of the hat.

But Argonaut didn’t fall too far short of qualifying for an equal level of praise. The Mustangs (10-2) blew through the Mother Lode League with relative ease, and did what it could to match the Raiders hit-for-hit.

“My entire staff has worked hard to get our defense playing at a championship level,” said Argonaut coach Rick Davis, whose team reached the 10-win level for the second time in school history.

“We went through the MLL giving up four touchdowns. We only gave up two scores on defense tonight. I was so proud of my team. We just have a bunch of tough mountain boys giving it all they got.”

Central never trailed in the game, taking a 7-0 lead on the Mustangs’ third play from scrimmage when junior defensive end John Mundt dropped into pass coverage and intercepted a Kyle Calais pass, returning it 50 yards for the score.

Argonaut threatened near halftime, eschewing a field goal attempt on fourth down from the 3. Calais rolled left, where he was met by Jones and Tyler Johnson to secure the 7-0 halftime lead.

The Raiders moved 65 yards on their first possession of the second half, with a 30-yard burst by Ray Lomas on a draw play setting up a 13-yard score by Jones for a 14-0 lead.

Argonaut answered at the end of the quarter when Colton Merriman pulled up on a sweep to the right side and threw a downfield strike to Austin Cramer for a 55-yard score.

But Central Catholic was riding Jones by that time, and the senior carried six times for 61 yards on the scoring drive that clinched the win. Darien Edwards bulled over from the 4 with 7:19 remaining for the clinching score.

“We were running one of our favorite plays in the second half and it’s just a physical play,” Jones said. “We put our big guys in and basically tell the other team we’re going to run it until you stop it.

“We learned as the game went on and that’s the sign of a good team.”