High school football Week 2 previews: Santa Rosa, Petaluma renew rivalry

Annual rights to the War Club are at stake in tonight’s Santa Rosa-Petaluma high school football game, the oldest high school rivalry in Sonoma County.

Santa Rosa hosts the 7:30 p.m. affair, which dates to 1892, when Santa Rosa and Petaluma were the cities’ only public schools and students pranked each other in innocent - and sometimes not so innocent - ways when the rivalry game approached.

Petaluma has won the last three matchups, following four consecutive wins by the Panthers.

Both teams enter the game 1-0, with Santa Rosa coming off a 34-3 shellacking of Analy - the North Bay League Oak Division team getting the better of the Redwood Division squad. The Trojans, now a member of the newly formed Vine Valley Athletic League, downed Montgomery 21-7 in their opener.

The Trojans will have to contain the Panthers’ run game, which gained 330 yards and scored five touchdowns last week. Senior quarterback Jayvee Long ran for 180 yards on 30 carries - including one of 47 yards - and three touchdowns.

Petaluma started slowly against the Vikings last week, giving up a first-quarter touchdown before leveling the score halfway through the third quarter with a 61-yard scoring run by Garrett Freitas. Two minutes later, Derrick Pomi pushed it in from one yard out to take a lead the Trojans would not relinquish.

Tonight, look for Santa Rosa to run the ball frequently and Petaluma to depend on its catalyst Freitas, who - when he’s not running the ball - plays safety. He twice intercepted Montgomery passes in the end zone last week.

The winner takes home the War Club, which has been variously described as a “Bam-Bam” stick or “giant baseball bat.”

IN OTHER GAMES …

SUTTER Huskies (0-0) vs.?CARDINAL NEWMAN Cardinals (1-0)

Time: 7 p.m.?Place: Cardinal Newman High School?Info: The Cardinals will be playing their first home game since last October’s firestorm burned much of their campus. They reached the CIF North Coast Section final, losing to Marin Catholic, while playing at Santa Rosa High, Santa Rosa Junior College and Rancho Cotate High School the remainder of their schedule. ... Newman opened the season with a strong 35-6 showing at Fortuna, led by junior QB Jackson Pavitt’s 280 passing yards and 3 TDs. ... Sutter, located north of Sacramento, is out of the Butte View League in the Northern Section and is making its 2018 debut. The Huskies went 12-2 in 2017 and are the defending Northern Section Division 3 champions. ?

MONTGOMERY Vikings (0-1) vs.?CASA GRANDE Gauchos (0-1)

Time: 7 p.m.?Place: Casa Grande High School?Info: Both teams will be looking for their first win of the season after taking losses last week - Casa to Windsor, 30-22, and the Vikings to Petaluma, 21-7. … Montgomery fields a balanced attack, rushing for 195 yards against Petaluma and passing for 102. … Casa scored three times against Windsor, all on passes from senior quarterback Jadon Bosarge to junior wide receiver Dominic McHale. … Bosarge completed 20 of 36 pass attempts for 212 yards, including a 28-yard completion. … Casa’s defensive secondary of McHale, Zac Register and Aaron Krupinsky tipped three passes against Windsor. … Montgomery’s senior running back Khameron Perkins likely will bear the weight of the Vikings’ rush attack, after gaining 136 yards on 19 carries last week.

RANCHO COTATE Cougars (1-0) vs. ?VANDEN Vikings (0-1)

Time: 7 p.m.?Place: Vanden High School, Fairfield?Info: Division 2 Rancho meets Division 3 rival Vanden, which advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs last year before losing to Oakdale. … The Vikings lost 40-14 last week to Edison of Stockton. … Rancho is coming off a 16-12 victory over host Sacramento last week. … The Cougars’ junior quarterback, Jared Stocker, spread out his pass attack last week, hitting six different receivers for 129 yards in the air. … Junior back Rasheed Rankin led the rushing game, gaining 135 yards on 26 carries for the Cougars. … Vanden, of Fairfield, is ranked 365th in the state, compared to Rancho’s 129th.

?REDWOOD Giants (1-0) vs.?MARIA CARRILLO Pumas (0-0)

Time: 7:30 p.m.?Place: Maria Carrillo High School?Info: Redwood, from Larkspur, will be Carrillo’s first real test this year after only preseason scrimmages. … The Pumas (4-6, 2-3 in the old North Bay League last year) went to the Division 2 North Coast Section playoffs last year, defeating Santa Rosa before losing 44-20 to No. 1 seed Campolindo, which went on to win the section title. … Redwood, of the Marin County League, won by forfeit last week against Berkeley. … The Giants have a small roster, only 28 players, compared to Carrillo’s deep 52-man roster.

?SONOMA VALLEY Dragons (0-1) vs. ?EL MOLINO Lions (1-0)

Time: 7:30 p.m.?Place: El Molino High School?Info: The Dragons are looking to put their first points on the board tonight after being shut out by Cloverdale, 21-0, last week. … The Lions hope to rebound after going down to defeat, 40-14, to St. Bernard’s of Eureka in their opener last week. … Both teams hope to stay away from injuries as they both have small rosters: El Mo 17 and Sonoma Valley 18. … Though the Dragons didn’t score in their first game, their defense held tight during the second half, holding Cloverdale scoreless late. … El Mo will have to tighten its defense, which allowed St. Bernard’s to go up 34-0 in the first half.

ALSO TONIGHT

Middletown at Hercules, 5:30 p.m.?Healdsburg at Justin-Siena, 7 p.m.?Novato at Piner, 7 p.m.?Fort Bragg at Castlemont, 7 p.m.?St. Vincent at San Rafael, 7 p.m.?Freedom at Windsor, 7:30 p.m.?Ukiah at Eureka, 7:30 p.m.?Colusa at Clear Lake, 7:30 p.m.?St. Patrick-St. Vincent at Willits, 7:30 p.m.?Berean Christian at Kelseyville, 7:30 p.m.?Corner Christian at Anderson Valley, 7:30 p.m.?South Fork at Calistoga, 7:30 p.m.?

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Upper Lake at Virginia City, 1:30 p.m.?St. Helena at Drake, 2 p.m.?Trinity Christian at Rincon Valley Christian, 2 p.m.

Lori A. Carter, ?The Press Democrat?