Empire football roundup: Santa Rosa edges past Windsor

With his football team down 10-6 in the fourth quarter, Santa Rosa High School quarterback Trevor Anderson took the snap on third-and-eight, knowing this could be a crucial play against a tough Windsor defense.

He spotted Roman Correa on the post and connected for a 50-yard gain, advancing the Panthers well into Windsor territory with about six minutes left in the game.

“That completely flipped field position and we took it from there,” Santa Rosa coach Russell Ponce said. “Trevor threw a perfect pass to Roman. That was key play of the game.”

Running back Jayvee Long finished with a 25-yard rushing touchdown to put Santa Rosa on top, 13-10.

The Jaguars, though, threatened on their final drive, marching downfield to within Santa Rosa's 20-yard line.

“They got down in the red zone but we stopped them. They had a guy open and our kid made a play on. It was close but we stopped them,” Ponce said. “Both teams played really well, and classy.”

The first half was a defensive battle that ended with Windsor up 3-0. Both teams moved the ball well, neither team penetrating.

“But our run started picking up in second quarter and we felt confident going into the half,” Ponce said. “In the second half, it turned into an old-school slugfest. Both teams ran the ball really well.”

Long scored both of the Panthers' touchdowns, a 2-yard run early in the final quarter and the game-winning rush after the key pass play.

Petaluma 56, El Molino 31

At Petaluma, the Trojans put 42 points on the board in the first half, downing El Molino, 56-31.

Petaluma gained 570 total yards on offense, coach Rick Krist said. A dozen different rushers carried the ball.

“No kid carried the ball more than seven times,” Krist said. “We got a lot of kids in the game and that was good.”

El Molino scored first, with a Sam Wilson-Mietz 1-yard-run. Wilson-Mietz kicked the point-after to go up 7-0.

Wilson-Mietz scored every one of El Molino's 31 points, including four touchdowns, their extra points and a 30-yard field goal.

But Petaluma went on a scoring spree, leading 42-17 at the half.

Garrett Freitas returned a kickoff 75 yards, then scored on a 15-yard rush.

Derrick Pomi added a 10-yard touchdown run and Jacob Havard caugh a 36-yard pass from Cole Powers, followed by a Colton Prieto 4-yard scoring run.

Daxton Hogya converted all point-afters for the Trojans.

Prieto broke out a 91-yard run to finish the scoring for Petaluma.

Wilson-Mietz scored on a 1-yard run and a 90-yard kickoff return for the Lions.

In all, five Petaluma players scored touchdowns.

Petaluma's Garrett Freitas sprained his ankle in the first half and sat out the remainder of the game, Krist said.

Tamalpais 52, Piner 7

Piner took a beating from Tamalpais in an afternoon game in Mill Valley.

Tam's Cooper Carroll threw for four touchdowns, two to receiver Sam Uriarte, as the Red Tailed Hawks improved to 3-0 and the Prospectors fell to 1-3.

Carroll, a senior quarterback, has thrown four touchdowns in each of the Hawks' games this season.

Piner coach Tom Harris said their pass rush never was able to pressure Carroll.

“So he could sit back and go through his reads,” he said.

Tamalpais opened a 21-0 lead in the first quarter on a 64-yard Uriarte score on the second play of the game, followed by a Crewe Hutson 8-yard run and a Hutson 34-yard interception return.

Piner got on the scoreboard with a gutsy 22-yard, fourth-down pass for a score halfway through the second quarter.

Michael Collins in the slot got loose, Harris said, and quarterback Yonaton Isack connected with him.

“We gave up a touchdown pass right after that and that kind of deflated us,” he said. “I thought we had a chance to get back into it, but two plays later they scored and that was it.

Tam added another 21 points in the second quarter to lead 42-7 at the half.

Maria Carrillo 41, Casa Grande 7

The Pumas scored early and often, pummeling the home Gauchos.

Casa led 28-7 at the half, on two Tyler Van Arden scoring runs, of 8 and 3 yards. Quarterback Casey Kelly connected with Logan Kraut on a 56-yard touchdown and with Kraut again on a 7-yard score to be well in command by the half.

“We started off pretty fast,” Carrillo coach Jay Higgins said. “We came out firing on offense and defense both. We played pretty consistently and controlled the first half.

“We wanted to make sure we cd restart the engine in the second half. We had one miscue with a turnover in the third quarter, but we saved ourselves with a good defensive stand and picked up where we left off.”

After another Van Arden score – of 76 yards – Kraut intercepted a Casa pass at the goal line and returned it for 99 yards for Carrillo's final score.

“They were trying to do some good things on offense, and did do some good things,” Higgins said of Casa. “They forced us to work. We were just hitting on all cylinders all four quarters.”

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.