Will a champion be crowned from Petaluma?

<p>In the past 31 years, the Casa Grande and Petaluma football programs have combined to win 378 games and make 23 playoff appearances.</p><p>In addition, since 1999, either the Gauchos or Trojans have won at least a share of the Sonoma County League title.</p><p>The two schools have clearly climbed to some great heights. But they've yet to reach the pinnacle, failing to win a North Coast Section title since Petaluma won its lone championship in 1977.</p><p>Nineteen seventy-seven? Jimmy Carter was in office, Pele was still playing soccer and Casa Grande coach Trent Herzog was 2 years old.</p><p>But as the NCS Division II playoffs open tonight the scene is seemingly set for the drought to end.</p><p>Petaluma (10-0), which hosts No. 16 Rancho Cotate, enters the postseason with the top seed for the first time since 1989. Casa Grande (9-1), which hosts No. 15 Maria Carrillo, has a No. 2 seed for just the second time in its 36-year history.</p><p>“I think we really do have a chance, as well as some other teams,” said Petaluma coach Steve Ellison. “I'm sure Casa Grande looks at it and feels like they have a great chance. Maybe the best chance they've had, too.”</p><p>Said Herzog, “Don't get me wrong, we love winning SCL titles. But the next step for this program is winning a section title.”</p><p>Both Ellison, in his 31st year at the school, and Herzog, 34, a Casa alum and a lifelong Petaluma resident, have seen firsthand plenty of playoff disappointments.</p><p>Petaluma made nine straight playoff appearances from 1989-97, compiling a 79-26-1 overall record during those years. Unfortunately for the Trojans, they kept smacking into mighty Marin Catholic, which ended their season in six of those nine years. Petaluma reached its only NCS title game under Ellison in 1999 when the fourth-seeded Trojans lost to unseeded Ukiah, 43-26.</p><p>Casa Grande reached the finals in 2003 and 2004, where the Gauchos ran into unbeaten juggernauts in Eureka and Montgomery, respectively. Eureka was led by Rey Maualuga and Maurice Purify, who both play for the Cincinnati Bengals. Montgomery was headlined by current NFL prospects Koa Misi (Utah) and Marcus Ezeff (Cal).</p><p>“They just had better teams,” said Herzog, the Gauchos defensive coordinator at the time. “Those were some of the best teams we've ever had in this area since I've been around.”</p><p>Of course, as their seeds suggest, both Petaluma and Casa Grande have teams that could be remembered years from now.</p><p>And with the intra-city rivals on opposite sides of the Division II bracket, it's possible they could meet in a section championship game that would ignite a city and, one way or another, end a long title drought.</p><p>For more Empire high school sports coverage, please visit Eric Branch's prep sports blog at prepsports.blogs.pressdemocrat.</p><p>com. You can reach Staff Writer Eric Branch at 521-5268 or eric.branch@pressdemocrat.com.</p>