High school football roundup: Rancho Cotate gets big road win

Rancho Cotate continued its early-season winning ways on Friday night by going on the road and handily defeating El Cerrito 30-7 in a non-league affair. It was a big victory for the Redwood Empire, which has historically struggles against East Bay teams.

The Cougars (3-0) led the entire way and have yet to trail in three games this season. The Gauchos (1-1) got their cosmetic touchdown in the fourth quarter after the cement was dry to avoid the shutout.

The sturdy Rancho Cotate defense came to play, stuffing El Cerrito's running and air attack.

“Our defense was incredible like we thought it would be,” Rancho Cotate coach Gehrig Hotaling said. “Our defensive line is deceptively tough for their size. The D-line set the edge and completely controlled the line of scrimmage for the majority of the game.”

Cougars' middle linebacker Elias Rantissi had 12 tackles and has led the team in tackles each of the three games.

Hotaling said Rancho Cotate had a huge advantage in depth with 45 players to El Cerritos 25.

“We had more depth and we used it to our advantage. We were able to rotate fresh athletes in all night,” Hotaling said. “In the third quarter we wore El Cerrito down physically and that was the difference in the game.”

El Cerrito had a size advantage in the trenches and a substantial edge in team speed but its lack of depth caught up with the Gauchos.

“If it was a track meet we would have lost but luckily it was a football game and our football players showed tonight,” Hotaling said. “Our effort has won us the first three games.”

Cougars quarterback Jared Stocker connected with Rasheed Rankin on a 6-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 Rancho Cotate lead in the first quarter. In the third quarter, Sumari Jones ran for a 40-yard touchdown and Stocker hit Connor Barbato (163 receiving on six catches) for a 38-yard score to put the game out of reach at 24-0 in the third quarter.

The Cougars led 30-0 before giving up a late touchdown by El Cerrito aided by two costly defensive penalties.

“El Cerrito had a tough time moving the ball. They never really had a consistent drive,” Hotaling said. “We have at least assured a winning record in the preseason (five games) and that's nice.”

MONTGOMERY 28, OAKLAND 6

The visiting Vikings (2-1) couldn't out-muscle the bigger Wildcats (0-2) on the interior so they decided to beat them with speed on the perimeter. The plan worked like a charm as the Oakland secondary was unable to contain Montgomery's receivers and the Vikings' quick-hitting passes in the flats proved fatal for Oakland.

“The jet passes and tosses were wide open for us,” Montgomery coach Vertis Patton said. “Oakland was really physical and a lot bigger than us. But, we were a lot faster than them and their corners couldn't cover our receivers.”

Montgomery took advantage of Oakland's poor air defenses as quarterback Cole Hallin (176 yards, 8-12, three touchdowns, one interception) connected on scoring strikes of 39 and 30 yards to Kaih Johnson and an 8-yarder to Devin Ramirez

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“Oakland couldn't stop us. We didn't punt the entire game,” Patton said. “Offensively they could not sustain drives. They were running a zone-read and we were flying all over the place with our defense.”

Montgomery middle linebacker Matt Carr led the Vikings defense with 17 tackles.

“For us this win is another confidence-builder that the team knows they can go win a game on the road,” Patton said.

BENICIA 42, MARIA CARRILLO 35, OT

The visiting Pumas (1-1) lost an offensive battle to the Panthers (1-1). Benicia led 28-13 at the half and 35-19 at the end of the third quarter but Maria Carrillo fought back and scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.

“We created some adversity for ourselves in the first half,” Maria Carrillo coach Jay Higgins said. “But I couldn't be more proud of how resilient and tough our guys were to fight and get us back in the game.”

LOWER LAKE 29, EL MOLINO 27

The Trojans (1-1) got their first win in a nail-biter. The host Lions (1-2) could have tied the game 22-22 with four minutes to play but missed a 2-point conversion to trail 22-20. El Molino's onside kick backfired and Lower Lake returned it 65-yards for a score for a 29-20 Trojans' lead.

The Lions scored a touchdown with 2:06 to play on a 3-yard run by Sam Wilson-Mietz but a second onside kick failed by the Lions and the Trojans were able to breathe a sigh of relief.