Tough road tests face Casa Grande and Petaluma

The Petaluma and Casa football trails to the NCS playoffs take them to unfriendly territories Friday.

Petaluma, coming off a bye following its big Egg Bowl victory over Casa Grande, goes to Sebastopol, where Analy’s Tigers will be snarlingly angry after being whipped by Casa Grande, 37-7, last week.

Casa Grande’s pursuit of Petaluma, the only team to beat it this season, takes the Gauchos to Sonoma, where the Dragons are notoriously hostile to visiting teams.

St. Vincent’s Mustangs, with their defensive trouble apparently repaired, go for a second straight North Central League I South win as they begin a three-game homestand on the newly refurbished and newly renamed Yarbrough Stadium at Kiely Field against Clear Lake,

The Tomales ground machine, running full speed now that the Braves are into North Central League II play, are home for the second straight week to host Laytonville.

Trojans tangle with Tigers

Petaluma takes its perfect 6-0 record and 2-0 Sonoma County League mark to Sebastopol to meet Analy’s Tigers, who are coming off a 37-7 spanking by Casa Grande last week.

On paper, everything favors the Trojans, but the game is not played on paper, but on the turf at Karlsen Field where the Tigers are always tough.

Despite the loss to Casa and a 1-2 league record, Analy is still in the midst of a pretty good season with a 5-2 overall mark.

An intriguing match up is this game will be the highly regarded Petaluma secondary, featuring big-play corners Dalton Johnson and Chris Kane against outstanding Analy wide receiver Chris Bostock.

After Bostock had grabbed a 71-yard touchdown pass in the first half against Casa Grande, the Gauchos were warned specifically to guard him in the second half. Despite the attention, in the fourth quarter, he grabbed a pass that was good for a 55-yard gain.

Another good match will be Petaluma’s strong offensive line against a good Analy front defensive line anchored by 240-pound Brandon Patocchi. Patocchi was all over the field against the Gauchos. The problem the Tigers had was stopping the fleet-footed Gauchos once they were past the initial line of scrimmage.

They may have the same problems Friday as they try to contain Trojan quarterback Mike Russell, halfback Sean Sullivan and fullback Ricky Sims.

Casa goes to Sonoma

Casa Grande tries to keep its hopes for at least sharing a seventh straight Sonoma County League crown alive as it travels to Sonoma.

Sonoma is struggling a bit this season with a 3-4 overall mark and a 1-2 SCL record. However, the Dragons are always dangerous on their home field, and are coming off their first league victory of the season, a 28-20 triumph over El Molino last week in Forestville.

The Dragons have another of those run-pass quarterbacks that have been troublesome to the Gauchos this season in Steve Morton.

They also have a legitimate break-away back in Yahya Muslim, who had touchdown trots of 35 and 77 yards against El Molino.

Casa Grande should be healthy for the first time in three weeks after fighting through a flu epidemic. It hardly bothered the Gauchos last week as they romped over Analy, led by sophomore running back Javonnie Oden and junior quarterback Nick Sherry.

Home stretch for SV

After playing five of their first six games on the road, St. Vincent’s Mustangs settle in for a three-game home stand beginning Saturday with Clear Lake.

Clear Lake comes to town with a 3-3 record that includes a 17-6 loss to Cloverdale last week in their first North Central League I game of the season.

Despite their record, the Cardinals can be dangerous. Kevin Burt is a bruising running back who had 100 yards on the ground against a tough Cloverdale defense, and Ryan Lunas is also a strong ball carrier.

Braves face Laytonville D

Tomales faces the first real test of its North Central League II season Friday night against a Laytonville team that comes in with a reputation for playing tenacious defense.

Laytonville is 2-2 for the season, but is coming off an impressive 12-6 North Central League II victory over Calistoga last week.

Tomales, after starting the season 0-2, has reeled off four straight wins.