Saturday prep football roundup: Casa Grande falls in overtime

San Marin High's Mustangs used a 38-yard field goal by Jovais Kennedy in overtime to defeat Casa Grande 17-14 on Saturday afternoon in Novato.

The game was tied at 14 with 2.1 seconds left when Casa kicker Matteo Miani lined up to attempt a 37-yard field goal for the win on a fourth-and-20 play. Kicking into the teeth of a strong autumn wind, his boot was accurate, but short. As it turned out, the kick wouldn't have counted one way or the other because San Marin coaches called timeout just before the kick.

What the wind-blocked kick did do was convince the Casa Grande coaches not to try it again. What they did try was a fourth-down heave into the end zone by quarterback Miguel Robertson intended for Dominic McHale that was swatted away by San Marin defender Dante Dimare to send the game into overtime.

Overtime rules call for each team to get a chance from the 25-yard line.

Casa Grande went first, and quickly rode the determined rushes of Matt Herrera to the San Marin 4-yard line. But, then a Herrera run netted nothing and three straight passes failed to hook up with nothing but the artificial turf.

San Marin was ineffectual in its turn, gaining just three yards in three plays, but then the Mustangs, kicking with the same wind that had defied Casa Grande in the opposite direction minutes before, won the game on a perfect 38-yard field goal by Kennedy.

Casa Grande led through the first three quarters before San Marin pulled out its second win in three games. Casa Grande is now 1-2.

Casa Grande took advantage of a bad snap on a San Marin punt attempt to run Herrera three times from the 18-yard line to the 1, setting up Robertson's scoring scamper in the first quarter. The first of three pass interceptions by Ryan Kasper led to a 3-yard touchdown effort by Dominic Giomi and a 14-0 Gauchos lead.

San Marin got on the scoreboard just two minutes before halftime on a 1-yard sneak by quarterback Matthew Sargent.

The rugged San Marin defense and costly penalties kept Casa Grande off the board in the second half, allowing San Marin to tie the game on another Sargent sneak in the fourth quarter.

That set up the kick that wasn't for Casa Grande at the end of regulation and the kick that was for San Marin in overtime.

WILLITS 27, ST. VINCENT 0

Senior Jacob Arms led Willits to a dominating 27-0 win over St. Vincent on Saturday afternoon, handing the Mustangs their first loss after two wins.

Arms ran for three touchdowns and returned a pass interception 90 yards for a fourth score. He broke runs of 62 and 51 yards in the first quarter to establish Willits control.

Defensively, St. Vincent freshman Kai Hall, who had run for 366 yards and 6 touchdowns in St. Vincent's first two games, was held to 21 yards in 21 attempts.

St. Vincent did have one moment of offensive hope in its first home game of the season, gaining 43 yards on a screen pass from quarterback Matthew Porteous to Hall. However, the Mustangs were unable to push the ball into the end zone.

St. Vincent's Jeremy Bukolsky also added to the St. Vincent excitement with three elusive kickoff returns and a blocked Willits PAT attempt.

Willits is now 2-0 for the season.