Rancho Cotate rolls past American Canyon in football playoffs

The Rancho Cotate High School football team’s well-balanced offense soared past American Canyon’s run-heavy playbook in the Cougars’ 42-7 playoff win Saturday night in Rohnert Park.

It had been three weeks since either of these teams had played in a football game due to unhealthy air quality caused by the Camp fire in Butte County, which delayed this North Coast Section Division 2 quarterfinal game, originally scheduled for Nov. 9 but rescheduled three times.

“I think it just took a little bit to shake off the rust, get our legs back under us, but once we did we played well,” Rancho head coach Gehrig Hotaling said.

The Cougars (11-1) came into the game led by quarterback Jared Stocker and running back Rasheed Rankin, who ran the spread offense well in their 55-7 win over Casa Grande High School in the opening round of the playoffs Nov. 2.

Rancho’s offense and defense have been very impressive to end the season, outscoring opponents 227-21 in the last five games. But the Cougars entered the game wary of the American Canyon (6-6) triple-option offense that running back Eddie Byrdsong has thrived in. Byrdsong ran for 356 yards in American Canyon’s 43-29 comeback win over Montgomery High School to open the playoffs. But Rancho was prepared for the heavy rush and bottled up Byrdsong in the win.

“Five guys on him every play, and you know that’s a little under half of our defense, so he was the focal point and we knew if we could slow him down the rest would take care of itself and we were able to do that,” Hotaling said.

Following a defensive battle in the first half that ended with a 14-7 Rancho advantage, the Cougars came out hot in the second and scored quickly on a 55-yard rushing touchdown from Rankin to extend the lead to 21-7.

On American Canyon’s first possession in the second half, Cougars defensive back Tai Peleti recovered a fumble and ran it back to the Wolves’ 21-yard line. Rankin took advantage and on a direct snap strolled into the end zone for a 5-yard rushing score, putting Rancho up 28-7 with more than seven minutes left in the third quarter.

On the next series for the Cougars offense, Stocker completed a 33-yard pass to Conner Barbato to put the Cougars on American Canyon’s 1-yard line, and running back Sumari Jones finished off the drive with the short rushing touchdown to extend Rancho’s lead to 35-7 at the end of the third.

The remainder of the game consisted of the Cougars defense shutting down American Canyon while they forced turnover after turnover.

The Cougars’ Peleti and linebacker Elias Rantissi each had an interception in the fourth quarter. And the Rancho forced and recovered two fumbles, one of which backup quarterback Ryan Hoxsie capitalized on by hitting Barbato for a 10-yard touchdown reception to seal the 42-7 victory.

“(The defense was) phenomenal tonight, led by Rantissi, and put American Canyon in some tough spots. What I was most pleased with it we got them to turn the ball over quite a bit,” Hotaling said.

The first half consisted mostly of a tough defense for both teams, as the Cougars stifled the Wolves’ normally potent rushing attack and Rancho’s high-flying offense was held to 14 points.

After several punts from each team to open the game, the Cougars and Stocker finally found the end zone late in the first quarter, hitting Jack Reese for a 39-yard receiving touchdown. They followed that up on their next possession by finding Eric Hupp on a short screen that the receiver took for a 20-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

But on the following kickoff, the Wolves’ Brandon Seay returned it 63 yards to set up the American Canyon offense on the Cougars’ 30-yard line. The Wolves took advantage of the great field position and finished their only scoring drive of the game with a 4-yard rushing touchdown from running back Darius Thomas.

Rancho heads into the semifinals of the NCS Division 2 playoffs, where it will host Marin Catholic, a 14-7 winner over Granada on Saturday.

“We’ve just got to have a great week of practice next week, if we do that we got a shot. For four years we’ve come up short in the semis and we’re looking to break through,” Hotaling said.