Prep football roundup: Cardinal Newman breezes past De Anza, Montgomery holds off Hayward

Cardinal Newman 59, De Anza 7

The Cardinal coasted to their most lopsided win of the year over the Dons at Hercules High School on Friday night.

Newman (4-0) led 21-0 after the first quarter and 42-0 at halftime.

Numerous players put up impressive performances. Senior running back Zach Homan had over 100 rushing yards for the fourth straight game with a pair of rushing touchdowns, sophomore wide receiver Jonah Bertoli had two touchdown receptions and returned a punt for a score, junior defensive back Jamari Gentry and sophomore linebacker Dylan Webb each had a pick-six and senior receiver Kyle Stoesser had a 47-yard touchdown reception.

The Cardinals got playing time for both their quarterbacks, with regular starter Jayson Colter going four-for-nine for 80 yards with a touchdown and an interception and backup Wyatt Knechtle completing seven-of-10 passes for 92 yards with two touchdowns.

On defense, senior linebacker Jasper Kemp had a team-high nine tackles with 1.5 sacks and junior linebacker Logan Rodriguez had eight tackles. Junior lineman Jimmy McKenzie and sophomore lineman Semere Berhe each added a sack.

The 59 points is the most the Cardinals have scored in a single game under head coach Richard Sanchez and the most they’ve scored in a game since the 2017 season when they beat Analy 63-26.

Through four games, the Cardinals now have a scoring differential of 143-54. They’ll play at St. Mary’s-Albany, last year’s North Coast Section Division 6 runner-up, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Montgomery 34, Hayward 24

Despite being outsized up front, the Vikings piled up 300 yards on the ground and held off a second-half comeback attempt by the Farmers on Friday night at home to bounce-back from their heartbreaking loss to Napa last week.

The Vikings (2-2) led 21-7 at halftime before Hayward (3-1) cut it to a three-point game in the third quarter. But unlike last week against the Grizzlies, the Vikings dug in and held on for the win.

“I thought we played really solid in the first half but then they came back in the second half,” said Montgomery head coach Vertis Patton. “We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of dumb penalties. We still need to work on discipline stuff. We gotta realize we can’t make dumb mistakes against good teams. That hurt us in the Napa game and it happened in this game again.”

Montgomery junior running back Quentin Perez rushed for 160 yards with a touchdown but left the game in the fourth quarter with a broken arm. Patton said he’ll be out about four weeks. Reserve senior running back Emasi Rabukawaqa made his season debut and impressed with 50 yards on the ground with a score.

Quarterback Bobby McGovern threw two interceptions but also ran for 67 yards and passed for over 150 yards with a touchdown to Izeyah Wright.

Hayward has 12 players on its roster listed over 250 pounds, including four over 300 and one at 395 pounds. Patton said coming into the game the Vikings didn’t think they’d be able to run the ball well, but their offensive line came to play.

“The reason we won was our offensive line,” he said. “They played well and they played well being overmatched. We were a lot smaller than Hayward. And for them to be play how they did, I take my hat off to them because those were big boys.”

Patton also highlighted the play of junior linebacker Nathan Ponce.

The Vikings will look to build on this win next week as host to St. Vincent (3-0).

Roseland University Prep 34, Calistoga 20

For the first time in their brief program history, the Knights beat the Wildcats, rallying back from a 20-14 halftime deficit.

“It was a battle, and it took three years, but we finally overcame the Green Giant,” RUP head coach DeJuan Miggins said. “This year we worked hard in the offseason to prepare for the physicality that they always take to us. The kids played together as a team, followed the coaches and went out and executed.”

The Knights (3-1) battled back to tie the game at 20-20 in the third and then took a 26-20 lead early in the fourth on a touchdown run by Hector Marrufo. Marrufo then put the game away later in the fourth with a 36-yard touchdown run.

The Knights led 8-0 early in the game, but Calistoga (3-1) roared back to quickly retake the lead. Wilbur Zuniga returned a fumble 37 yards for a score before Jayden Sibbu scored on a 54-yard run for two of their three first-half scores.

After the Knights tied the game in the third, the Wildcats looked poised to retake the lead, but RUP freshman Darian Hammer had an interception at RUP’s five-yard line to halt the drive.

“We needed to play a better game, like we are capable of,” Calistoga head coach Patty Arend said. “RUP outplayed us and deserved to win.”

The Knights have their bye next week before opening NCL III play at Round Valley on Sept. 29.

Calistoga is also on a bye next week before its NCL II opener at Branson on Sept. 30.

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @JustGusPD.