Article by Ryan Giacomini (Petaluma High School class of 2022)
Feature Image by Sumner Fowler
High School football is back in full swing and we’ve seen a ton of good week 0 and week 1 matchups. Through two games, we have three teams sitting at 2-0, Petaluma, St. Vincent de Paul and Montgomery.
Petaluma has had an explosion of offense from junior quarterback Henry Ellis who so far this year has scored 8 touchdowns, 5 in the air and two with his feet. For the Trojans, senior linebacker Neill Crudo has been making the difference with 5 tackles in their first game and a 98 yard fumble recovery touchdown this last Friday. The Trojans won the War Club for the second time in a row and five of the last six games between the two schools. Petaluma will host old SCL foe Piner on Friday night, who defeated Willits last week.
St. Vincent de Paul had their original game with Cloverdale cancelled due to COVID-19 issues for the Eagles. They picked up a game with Delta out of Clarksburg. With very little time to prepare, the Mustangs trounced Delta 48-6 after building a 42-0 halftime lead. They were led by their star junior running back Kai Hall who rushed for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Dante Antonini caught four passes – three of them were for touchdowns and all together it was for 114 yards. Killian Collins caught just one pass but it was for a touchdown from 21 yards out. The final score came on a pass from junior quarterback Eddy Stone to sophomore wide receiver Hudson Stipp. Stipp finished with two catches for 21 yards with the touchdown. On the other side of the ball, senior linebacker Jake Decarli led the team with 10 tackles including 2 tackles for a loss. Liam O’Hare chipped in with six tackles with Mac Cauz and Nathan Rooks recording five tackles each. Collins also had an interception on defense for the Mustangs. St. Vincent will head on the road for perhaps their biggest game of the season – a showdown with St. Helena in a game of possibly the two best teams in NCS Division 7.
Montgomery has also put on a show offensively as in week one, they scored 55 points against the Novato Hornets. Senior quarterback Mason Hallin completed nine passes for 127 yards with four touchdowns. Two Viking running backs ran for 100 + yards – Jaxson Howley carried 15 times for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Will Beiswanger ran the ball 18 times for 123 yards with a score. Senior Elijah Saxton led the Montgomery defense with six tackles, half of them were for losses. The Vikings will take on Chase Vehmeyer and the Windsor Jaguars Friday night.
Although they aren’t 2-0, Casa Grande began their campaign with a 49-35 victory over Maria Carrillo Friday night. The 49 points were thanks to an offensive explosion from the Gaucho quarterback Jacob Porteous. He threw for 647 yards and seven touchdowns. Yes – all seven touchdowns came courtesy of Porteous’ arm. Senior Shane Runyeon led all receivers with 204 yards receiving on seven catches. Senior Marcus Scott caught 11 passes for 191 yards while another senior Caden Cramer had seven catches for 179 yards. They each caught two touchdown passes apiece. According to the MaxPreps national record book and Cal-Hi Sports record book, it is the fifth highest single-game yardage total in state history and the new North Coast Section record.
Other scores from week 1:
Piner (Santa Rosa, CA) 18 Willits (CA) 13
Acalanes (Lafayette, CA) 42 Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park, CA) 41 (ot)
Casa Grande (Petaluma, CA) 49 Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa, CA) 35
El Cerrito (CA) 26 Vintage (Napa, CA) 6
Marin Catholic (Kentfield, CA) 62 Concord (CA) 0
Miramonte (Orinda, CA) 26 Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, CA) 12
Montgomery (Santa Rosa, CA) 55 Novato (CA) 3
Petaluma (CA) 26 Santa Rosa (CA) 20
San Marin (Novato, CA) 57 West County (Sebastopol, CA) 20
San Rafael (CA) 37 Healdsburg (CA) 7
Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento, CA) 34 Middletown (CA) 0
Burlingame (CA) 31 American Canyon (CA) 6
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa, CA) 20 Vacaville (CA) 13
Pierce (Arbuckle, CA) 15 Clear Lake (Lakeport, CA) 8
St. Helena (CA) 34 Winters (CA) 21
St. Vincent (Petaluma, CA) 48 Delta (Clarksburg, CA) 6
Vacaville Christian (Vacaville, CA) 34 Lower Lake (CA) 0
Wood (Vacaville, CA) 34 Napa (CA) 14
Week 2 schedule:
Friday, September 10th
Vintage (Napa, CA) at Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa, CA), 7:00pm (LIVE on YSN365.com)
American Canyon (CA) at Berkeley (CA), 7:00pm
Carrillo (Santa Rosa, CA) at Benicia (CA), 7:00pm
Healdsburg (CA) vs. Cloverdale (CA) at Rec Park (Healdsburg, CA), 7:00pm
Kelseyville (CA) at Fortuna (CA), 7:30pm
Marin Catholic (Kentfield, CA) at Casa Grande (Petaluma, CA), 7:00pm
Miramonte (Orinda, CA) at Lower Lake (CA), 7:30pm
Montgomery (Santa Rosa, CA) at Windsor (CA), 7:00pm
Piner (Santa Rosa, CA) at Petaluma (CA), 7:00pm
San Marin (Novato, CA) at Moreau Catholic (Hayward, CA), 7:00pm
Santa Rosa (CA) at San Rafael (CA), 7:00pm
St. Mary’s (Albany, CA) at Justin-Siena (Napa, CA), 7:00pm
St. Vincent (Petaluma, CA) at St. Helena (CA), 7:30pm
Terra Linda (San Rafael, CA) vs. Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, CA) at Arnold Field (Sonoma, CA), 7:00pm
Ukiah (CA) at Eureka (CA), 7:30pm
Vallejo (CA) at West County (Sebastopol, CA), 7:00pm
Willits (CA) at McKinleyville (CA), 7:30pm
Napa (CA) vs. Rodriguez (Fairfield, CA) at Memorial Stadium (Napa, CA), 7:00pm
Branson (Ross, CA) at California School for the Deaf (Fremont, CA), 6:00pm
Laytonville (CA) at Calistoga (CA), 6:00pm
Roseland University Prep (Santa Rosa, CA) at Tomales (CA), 6:00pm
Crystal Springs Uplands (Hillsborough, CA) at Upper Lake (CA), 7:00pm