Roundup: Santa Rosa outlasts El Molino in barnburner

Santa Rosa’s Mason Frost had himself a game on Friday night on homecoming in the North Bay League-Redwood Division opener. The senior Panthers running back had 439 yards rushing with six touchdowns on 27 carries and scored the game-winner on a 25-yard scramble on the Panthers’ first offensive play in overtime to down visiting El Molino 50-44.

Frost amassed big chunks of yards on long scores, two of which were over 80 yards.

“Mason is really talented. The offensive line played really well, they made their blocks and Mason hit the holes hard,” Santa Rosa (2-5, 1-0) coach Russell Ponce said. “He has never played football before (this season). He had a breakout night.”

El Molino (3-3, 0-1) had the first possession in overtime but quarterback Weston Lewis (six touchdowns) fumbled the ball.

“It was our first fumble recovery on defense all season,” Ponce said. “It was a timely recovery.”

The Panthers used an unbalanced offensive line to force wedges in the Lions defensive front and spring Frost for huge gains.

“He (Frost) is fast. He identified the hole really well and hit it hard with good timing and explosiveness,” El Molino assistant coach Jerod Brown said. “It was a disappointing loss for us.”

PINER 60, HEALDSBURG 0

The Prospectors (7-0, 1-0) juggernaut continued to roll in their NBL-Redwood opener as they steamrolled the host Greyhounds (0-7, 0-1).

“Tonight was about giving different people the opportunity to showcase what they can do,” Piner coach Terence Bell said.

Three Prospectors scored their first varsity touchdown - Mason Cole, Isaac Kim, and Jaydon Goldenberg.

The game was essentially over after one quarter with Piner leading 33-0.

“We have a standard of doing your job. It’s all about the details,” Bell said. “At its core that is what Piner football is all about.”

Piner has six shutouts on defense this season and has outscored opponents 398-14 for the season.

UKIAH 20, MARIA CARRILLO 19

In an NBL-Oak opener, host Ukiah (3-3, 1-0) pulled out a come-from-behind win over the Pumas (3-3, 0-1).

The Pumas led 19-14 when the Wildcats scored a touchdown with 7:17 to play on a 25-yard scoring pass. Maria Carrillo, however, then drove down the field into the red zone before fumbling the ball away with 3:30 to play on a botched quarterback-running back exchange. Ukiah salted away the final few minutes for the win.

“This was a tough one. It’s a hard pill to swallow. We had our opportunities,” Maria Carrillo coach Jay Higgins said. “If we hadn’t fumbled I believe we would have gone in to score. But you can’t make a crucial fumble at a crucial time.”

Maria Carrillo’s Logan Kraut ran for scores of 1, 5, and 28 yards.

WILLITS 30, ST. HELENA 28

In an North Central League I game, the visiting Wolverines (5-1, 3-0) stopped a Saints (5-1, 2-1) 2-point conversion attempt with no time remaining to preserve the victory.

St. Helena scored on the final play of the game on a 5-yard pass to bring the score to 30-28. On the 2-point conversion the Saints tried a dive up the middle with running back Ivan Robledo, who was stopped short of pay-dirt.

“We stuffed him,” Willits coach Brandon Norbury said. “I knew St. Helena was going to go to their bread-and-butter (Robledo). It was awesome. This was huge for Willits. We are starting a new program and this is a step in the right direction. This was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of.”

JUSTIN-SIENA 41, ?SONOMA VALLEY 0

The visiting Dragons (1-6, 0-3) defense got burned by the long ball as they have for most of the season in a lopsided Vine Valley Athletic League loss to the Braves (6-1, 2-1).

“Defensively, we are having a lot of trouble with the pass. The deep ball is killing us and has all season,” Sonoma coach Hervy Williams said. “All of Justin-Siena’s touchdowns were on big plays and not sustained drives.”

Busted assignments and confusion on coverages in the Dragons secondary was the culprit for many of the defensive miscues. Offensively, Sonoma was hurt by several turnovers that ended drives and the inability to score on three trips inside the Braves 20-yard line.

“We just couldn’t finish (drives),” Williams said.

VINTAGE 40, PETALUMA 7

Vintage’s muscular Crushers continued to stride over a growing list of fallen foes in quest of a second straight Vine Valley Athletic League football title Friday night, adding Petaluma’s overmatched Trojans to its conquests.

The outcome of the game between the now 5-1 Crushers and Petaluma’s now 1-6 Trojans was pretty much determined on Vintage’s first possession when the Crushers gave the ball three times to senior running back Pedja Zivkovic on a one-man 47-yard drive that culminated with Zukovic scoring from 30 yards out.

Petaluma made the Crushers work for their bounty despite suiting up just 24 players and having five injured during the physical fray. The Trojans intercepted a pass (Randall Braziel), recovered a fumble (Tim Williams) and made several outstanding stops,

Petaluma also put together an impressive 61-yard drive in the third quarter that ended with quarterback Jack Hartman running and willing himself into the end zone on a 26-yard blast for a touchdown.