Dissa and Data: Chris Taylor-Yamanoha’s touchdown pass a surprising success for Rancho Cotate

Chris Taylor-Yamanoha opened the scoring in the Rancho Cotate-Cardinal Newman showdown Friday with a 70-yard catch-and-run on a little hitch pass. When he caught another one just like it with the score tied 7-7, the Cardinals collapsed on Taylor-Yamanoha, determined not to let it happen again.

But the Cougars had drawn up a surprise: a double pass. Taylor-Yamanoha had never thrown a pass in a game before.

“And I’m gonna be honest with you,” Rancho coach Ed Conroy offered. “During practice I said this is never gonna go. But then it went beautifully, just as you planned.”

Taylor-Yamanoha calmly lobbed a 16-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Vallejos.

Cardinal Newman coach Paul Cronin admitted that his defenders overcommitted after the first throw (which was very close to being a forward pass), but chalked it up to aggressiveness.

“Those plays don’t bug you,” Cronin said. “It’s the things you coach all week. Yamanoha hitting the seam - we coached that. We worked that. That’s a play we’ve got to be better on.”

Taylor-Yamanoha had 13 receptions for 179 yards and three touchdowns, but the Cardinals won 42-35 to claim first place in the North Bay League.

Vickie Espinoza headed to OKCU

Rancho Cotate senior Vickie Espinoza is headed to Oklahoma City University on a wrestling scholarship. Espinoza was runner-up at the CIF state wrestling championships as a junior and finished second at the USA Wrestling’s Junior Women’s Freestyle Championships in July.

She will join fellow Rancho alum and four-time CIF State medalist Kayla Aggio as a Ram. As part of her recruitment, Espinoza was able to train with the team and was sold.

“The intensity of the practice and how challenging it was for me, it felt right. It was awesome,” she said.

She plans to study criminal justice.

Good week for Clara Smith

Sonoma Valley graduate Ciara Smith, a freshman middle blocker on the Pacific University volleyball team, was named Northwest Conference student-athlete of the week for her sport. She led the Boxers to a three-win week with victories against Multnomah, George Fox and Puget Sound.

2014 all over again

Analy’s Jon Knox and Petaluma’s Riley Scott were our All-Empire swimmers of the year in 2014. A little more than a year later, the two are united again. This time, they’re teammates. Both are swimming - and winning - at USC.

In the Trojans men’s season opener against UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 2, Knox won the 100-yard backstroke and was a member of USC’s winning 400-yard free relay team. Against Cal Poly Pomona the next day, he won the 100 and 200 back.

The Southern Cal women have swum at just one meet, against Pac-12 opponent Utah, and Scott won two individual events - 100 and 200 breaststroke - and swam a leg on the winning 200-yard medley relay team.

Ukiah golfers stay perfect

Ukiah’s girls golf team is celebrating after wrapping up the first undefeated season in school history. On Tuesday, coach Chris Philbrick presented his seniors with bouquets of flowers to mark the occasion.

The Wildcats have a match Thursday with Montgomery but the Vikings didn’t field a full team this season and will forfeit.

Grace Eversole has the lowest average on the Ukiah squad with Cassidy Schutz right behind her. Emily Bawcom is the most improved player.

Andreassi keeps on rolling

Montgomery tennis player Marghi Andreassi is again dominating NBL opponents. The reigning All-Empire Player of the Year hasn’t been tested while winning her first 11 matches. Only a sophomore, Andreassi has improved in every aspect of her game, according to coach Sean Benoit.

“She has more speed on her serve, her footwork is quicker and her ground strokes are better,” Benoit said.

Petaluma seeks coach

Petaluma High School is looking for a freshman baseball coach. Interested candidates should contact varsity baseball head coach Paul Cochrun at 415-596-1829 or pcochrun@petk12.org

Press Democrat staff writers Kerry Benefield, Phil Barber and Lori A. Carter and correspondent Howard Senzell contributed to this report.