Justin-Siena back in the hunt
Published: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 6:02 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 6:02 p.m.
NAPA — Justin-Siena is back in the North Coast Section Division IV championship game, poised to win its second consecutive title. Pat yourself on the back if you called it back when the Braves were 0-4.
“I’d like to say they were resilient — and obviously they are — but we questioned ourselves at that point, as coaches as well as players,” Justin-Siena coach Rich Cotruvo admitted Tuesday at chilly Dodd Stadium, visible from Highway 29 on the north side of Napa. “But the problem was kind of twofold. No. 1, we had a lot of new players in positions. And No. 2, we didn’t know our players as well as maybe we should.”
Cotruvo and his staff made some personnel changes, generally remained calm and watched a turnaround that the coach now calls “remarkable.” The Braves won five of their final six Marin County League games and have since rattled off three straight playoff wins, including a dramatic 22-21 upset of St. Mary’s (Albany) in the second round.
Just one more obstacle stands between the Braves and their fifth NCS championship this decade (they won Class A in 2000, 2003 and 2004): Fort Bragg. The teams play at 7 p.m. Friday at Santa Rosa High.
If Cotruvo didn’t panic after that 0-4 start, it’s because he has grown accustomed to giving the opposition a head start. Justin-Siena commonly schedules tough non-league games; this year, the first three losses came against Sacred Heart Cathedral, Atherton and Menlo. Sacred Heart and Atherton are both Division III, and Menlo finished 9-4 this season.
Things never get much easier for Justin-Siena when MCL play begins.
“We’re a small school — 300 boys, 300 girls — and we’re playing teams twice our size, sometimes even a bit more than that,” Cotruvo said of Justin, a Catholic school that he jokingly refers to as the bastard child of the section — not east enough for the East Bay, not north enough for the North Bay. “In football, it makes a difference. Football’s a numbers game.”
The Braves’ two league losses this year were to Marin Catholic and Novato. Marin Catholic is playing for the Division III title Friday. Novato was the fourth seed in that division. In other words, take Justin-Siena’s 8-5 record with a grain of salt.
After all, the Braves lost four games last year, but wound up as champions.
They have many players back from that team, including quarterback Eddie Aguayo and four of his offensive linemen.
The feisty Aguayo is only 5-9, but he’s a two-year starter in Justin’s veer offense who is quick with his feet as well as his brains.
“He runs the option about as well as any quarterback I’ve had the privilege of coaching,” Cotruvo said. “And he can throw the ball. In fact, he’s the first player, I think, in this valley in a long time that’s rushed for 1,000 (yards) and passed for 1,000.”
The offensive line isn’t huge, averaging about 213 pounds. (Against Valley Christian in an NCS semifinal, the Braves faced a pair of 300-pound defensive linemen.) But it’s an agile and well-coordinated group that is playing its best football of the season.
The defense, traditionally a focal point at Justin-Siena, was a weakness early in the season. But the Braves have rebounded on that side of the ball, led by defensive linemen Tom Keown and Spencer Joske.
Justin-Siena might not be untarnished this season, but its an experienced team that brims with confidence.
“When we got to the playoffs, we play in such a tough league that we know that the best team we play, we’ve already faced. They can’t be any better than Novato or Marin Catholic,” Cotruvo said. “That’s where our grit and our tenacity comes from. You get the confidence knowing that we have competed at the highest level of our division.”
As Jameson, the offensive lineman, put it: “After about the second week of the playoffs, we had this feeling that we knew we weren’t going to lose.”
Not that anyone is taking Fort Bragg lightly. A day after beating Valley Christian, 48-23, Cotruvo and several of his players drove to Richmond and watched the Timberwolves beat Salesian in the other semifinal. As you might imagine, star Fort Bragg halfback Jake Cimolino got their attention.
“You never see him get tackled by one person,” said Cotruvo, in his 13th season coaching the Braves. “He’s always leaning forward, and his fundamentals are sound, and he runs through tackles. He makes you pay if you’re going to tackle him.”
But respect is not the same as awe. Justin-Siena is determined to bring back another trophy to Napa.
“It’s very important,” Aguayo said. “It’s our senior year, and so many people were saying, like, ‘Oh, they’re not gonna do it again, they lost all their players.’ Now for us to be at this point, it’s just a really good feeling. To end it with a win, I couldn’t think of anything better.”
You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.
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