BY HAROLD ABEND
Fast start propels San Marin past Moreau Catholic
Novato, Calif. – Host San Marin (3-0) struck early with two TDs in less than six minutes of the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead they stretched to 21-0 at the half before coasting home to a 34-12 Friday night victory over Moreau Catholic-Hayward.
Even though it was a good game, and a win, I’m a perfectionist,” San Marin head coach Dominic DiMare told the team in the post-game huddle. “We’re young in a lot of positions but we’re getting there.”
One of those young players is San Marin quarterback Daniel Rolovich, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior, who was only making his third varsity start, and who reportedly already is garnering some college interest, completed his first five passes and finished 10-of-18 for 193 yards and four TDs passing. Rolovich did suffer three sacks but still managed to rush for 27 yards and a fifth score, meaning he had a hand in all five Mustangs touchdowns.
“Daniel is coming along for only his third varsity start,” DiMare said. “He’s starting to manage the offense a little bit of a pretty detailed offense we run, and he’s starting to get it.”
It doesn’t hurt to have Rolovich’s father, former Marin Catholic and college quarterback and D1 college head coach Nick Rolovich on the sidelines helping with Daniel’s tutelage.
Wesley Timmel, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior wide receiver that was a Cal-Hi Sports All State Juniors Third Team selection last season, only caught four passes but three of them went for TDs and the Mustangs top offensive weapon finished with 104 yards receiving.
San Marin running back Jonah Lozano did not find the end zone, but the Mustangs senior got the bulk of the carries and finished rushing 15 times for 127 yards.
The big star on defense, who also got into the act on offense, was 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior defensive end and occasional tight end Liam McMann. He got credit for a sack on a fumble by Moreau quarterback Jeremiah Charles, got two other solo sacks, and two other half sacks where there was no question he had a hand in bringing Charles down. He also had a fumble recovery he scooped up and got credit for a 28-yard return. McMann only caught one pass, but it went for a 12-yard touchdown. Talk about a huge performance.
Three other defensive standouts for the Mustangs were juniors Michael Giomi, Luke Saysette and Andrew Keehn. Giomi had a fumble recovery and a pass interception. Saysette had a solo sack that forced the fumble McMann recovered, and he shared a sack with McMann. Keene had a solo sack and shared one with McMann.
All told the San Marin defense had seven sacks, a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries and an interception, and it came from a defensive unit that lost a lot to graduation and was missing a starter. They did not allow a Moreau first down until there was 7:30 left in the second quarter.
San Marin wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Moreau deferred and kicked off to start the game. The Mustangs got the ball on their own 39 after the return and six plays later, and despite a bad snap that cost Rolovich a sack, the first of two by Moreau senior Miles Moore, and a 13-yard loss, Rolovich executed a perfect bootleg around left end for a 5-yard TD run. After the PAT by junior kicker Nate Mandelbrot San Jarin had a 7-0 lead it never relinquished.
Moreau got the ball after the ensuing kickoff was a touchback by the booming foot of Mandelbrot, and on its very first play Charles completed a 2-yard pass but it was fumbled and Giomi recovered at the Mariners 22-yard line.
This time it took only four plays for San Marin to score.
With the Moreau secondary concentrating on Timmel, McMann found himself all alone in the right corner of the end zone and hauled in a 12-yard TD pass to make it 14-0 Mustangs after the PAT by Mandelbrot.
From there the teams traded turnovers but after a Moreau punt San Marin mounted another scoring drive that was seven plays for 73 yards culminating in a 19-yard TD pass from Rolovich to Timmel that made it 21-0 with 9:50 left in the first half.
The second half was a bit sloppy, and the defensive unit of San Marin did give up two touchdowns, but in the end the Mariners still had a 13-12 second half scoring advantage.
Despite holding a comfortable 21-0 lead, San Marin went for an onside kick to begin the second half and Moreau recovered it at the Mustangs 47 band took advantage of the excellent field position and in five plays they scored on a 3-yard run by senior running back Jayden Bryant. San Marin senior Jaxon Ryan blocked the PAT, and it was 21-6 Mustangs.
The next two possessions for both teams ended with neither team scoring and after a sack by McMann and Keehn forced a Mariners punt San Marin had the ball on its own 29.
After two runs by Lozano that totaled 31 yards got the ball to the 40 of Moreau, Rolovich connected with Timmel on a slant pattern and he weaved from side to side a couple of times before finding an opening and exploding past the would be tacklers for a 40-yard TD reception that made it 27-6 with 2:04 left in the third after the PAT was blocked.
Moreau would get its final tally on its next possession after blown coverage allowed senior wide receiver Jalen Arnold to get loose on the right sideline and bolt home with 45-yard TD pass from Charles to make it 27-12 at the end of the third quarter after 2-point run failed.
The game’s final score came with 11:07 left when Rolovich and Timmel hooked up for a third TD 29-yard pass reception.
Moreau moved the ball in the fourth quarter against a mix of San Marin starters and reserves and in fact had 109 yards of offense in the period, but the sack by Sayette and fumble recovery by McCann and the interception by Giomi on the next to last play of the game kept the Mariners off the scoreboard
Charles ended up going 15-of-27 passing for 217 yards and the one touchdown. He was sacked six times and had minus-17 yards rushing. Bryant finished with 13 carries for 55 yards and the one touchdown.
A negative for San Marin was penalties. They committed eight for 85 yards.
“We have a young defense and they’re making some mistakes, aggressive mistakes which I’m fine with, and they’ll get better learning our system,” DiMare remarked. “But the other things, the penalties, jumping offsides. Those things need to be cleaned up.”
“When we get ready to play teams in the Adobe League those mistakes are going to cost us games,” DiMare continued. “the mistakes were the negatives but a positive aspect is our starting strong safety is out for a couple of weeks and we had a couple of guys fill in at new positions for the first time and they did very, very well.”
Moreau (1-2) has one non-league game left hosting Livermore next week before beginning West Alameda County Conference – Foothill League action in two weeks at home against Berkeley.
San Marin opens Adobe League action in three weeks hosting arch rival Marin Catholic, but before then they have non-league matchups with hosts Casa Grande-Petaluma and Ukiah.
Casa Grande is coming off an impressive 34-13 victory on the road in Rohnert Park at Rancho Cotate.
Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa 56, Armijo-Vallejo 21
Cardinal Newman (3-0) literally ran past visiting Armijo to keep their record unblemished in what was an easy win after the Cardinals opened up a 35-0 halftime before coasting home.
The Cardinals gave up the most points by its defense so far this season when they allowed host Armijo to score three TDs, but for the second time in three games the Cardinals scored over 55-points as the offense rolled up 561 total yards with a whopping 433 yards coming from the rushing game.
It was a big play game as four of the Cardinal Newman TDs came on plays that went for huge yards. Two Newman running backs rushed for over 100-yards and one almost did it in one play.
“Crazy game with all those big plays,” remarked Cardinal Newman head coach Richard Sanchez
Senior Jamari Gentry only had three carries but two of them went for TDs of 80 and 51 yards and he finished with 139 yards rushing. Junior Sam Keating was the workhorse, if you can call 10 carries a lot of work, and he finished with 102 yards and one touchdown.
Flashy sophomore Zion Cargill only had two touches and he turned both into scores with an 86-yard run to the house and a 29-yard pass reception for a touchdown.
Senior quarterback Jayson Colter had 78 yards passing and one TD, senior quarterback Wyatt Knechtle connected on both of his passes for 50 yards and one TD, and Freshman quarterback Tino Retamoza didn’t complete any of his four passes, but he ran for 29 yards and one touchdown.
Cardinal Newman now hosts Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland. The 2-1 Dragons have a loss to McClymonds-Oakland but they also have an impressive 24-20 win on the road at Monte Vista.
Marin Catholic-Kentfield 29, Manteca 28
The way the game started it was looking bleak and possibly an 0-3 start for Marin Catholic after the visiting Wildcats had lost their first two games to two of the top upper division schools in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section with defeats to Inderkum-Sacramento and St. Mary’s-Stockton, and they fell behind on the road to a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 No. 4 seed Manteca team that had bowed out with a loss to St. Mary’s in last year’s semifinals.
The deficit was 7-0 after one quarter, 22-7 at the half and 28-15 with nine minutes to play. The size of host Manteca was dominating Marin Catholic but suddenly there was a change in the weather
From that point on it was pretty much all Marin Catholic, and to the delight of the Wildcats faithful, it was also a breakthrough for junior quarterback Caedon Afsharispour.
Some prep football fans may forget but former Marin Catholic and current Detroit Lions star quarterback Jared Goff didn’t even get his first varsity start until the fifth game of his junior season, while Afsharispour started calling signals for the Wildcats as a sophomore starter.
With a banged up offensive line Afsharispour struggled against the Wildcats first two top-notch opponents but if the last nine minutes against Manteca are any indication the 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior has broken through and continues to develop confidence, those sleeping on MC because of the poor start better wake up and take notice.
“Caeden made the big plays when it counted,” remarked Marin Catholic head coach Mazi Moayed.
Afsharispour finished a solid 15-of-21 for 287 yards and two TDs, the first coming with around six minutes left to star wide receiver Braiden Bachich-Dixon, and the game winner with around two minutes left to senior wide receiver Chase Merrick.
The first two Marin Catholic TDs were scored by junior running back Jarred Geissberger and came on the ground. The defense was led by senior linebacker Josh Riley with 14 tackles and an interception.
Two factors that were key to the victory was Marin Catholic blocked a PAT after the final Manteca touchdown with nine minutes left, ad after their own second TD they went for a 2-pointer and converter to cut it to a 22-15 deficit
Windsor 33, Campolindo-Moraga 14
Last year in Moraga the teams played to a 14-14 tie when it was reported that the Campolindo coaching staff eschewed an overtime period.
This year’s matchup was in Moraga again and while the host Cougars duplicated the two TDS they had last year the visiting Jaguars more than doubled that output after roaring out to a 20-0 lead at the half and 26-0 after three quarters before giving up two TDs in the last eight minutes of the game while adding on a final tally themselves.
Senior star wide receiver and defensive back Hayden Anderson, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior, scored both on offense and defense. He had caught a TD pass from sophomore quarterback Carter Vose and his pick six in the fourth quarter extended the Windsor lead to 33-7.
Vose had two TD passes in the game with the second one going to junior wide receiver Alonzo Leon. Senior running back Wyatt Morris and junior Fernando Lopez each had a TD rushing.
Windsor returned Anderson, considered to be one of the top players in the Redwood Empire, returned on both sides of the ball, but the Jaguars lost a to graduation. They haven’t played quite as tough a schedule as Marin Catholic or Cardinal Newman, considered to be the Adobe League favorites, but the Windsor defense has been the stingiest of anyone in the league and their 123-21 combined margin of victory so far tops the league.
Next up Dublin. The 0-3 Gaels are rebuilding under first-year head coach and former Oakland Raiders star Napoleon Kaufman.
Casa Grande-Petaluma 33, Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park 13
The score was tied at 13-13 at the half after Rancho Cotate kicked a field goal to get the equalizer, but the second half was all the Vine Valley Athletic League champions who improved to 2-1 heading into a match-up at home against San Marin.
Because of the formula the CIF North Coast Section used in determining the realignment of the Redwood Empire Conference Football, Vintage-Napa was placed in the Adobe “A” League despite a 3-2 finish last season in the VVAL, and 5-0 champion Casa Grande (2-1) was placed in the Valley “B” League where its looking like the Gauchos will be the favorites.
Rancho Cotate (2-1) will need to re-group heading into a match-up with host Freedom-Oakley.
Vintage-Napa 36, Wood-Vacaville 21
Vintage improved to 2-1 with a solid victory over a visiting Wildcats team from the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.
Next up for Vintage is a match-up at home with Jesse Bethel-Vallejo.