Lions will visit Piner on Friday; Tigers travel to Carrillo
The opening week of the North Bay League football schedule did not go as planned for Analy and El Molino varsity squads, both suffering road losses to their respective opponents.
While the Lions (0-1, 3-3) came out on the short end of an overtime, 50-44 barnburner at Santa Rosa, the Tigers (0-1, 1-5) weathered a 47-8 shellacking at the hands of Windsor.
Both teams will be back on the road this Friday, Oct. 11, when El Molino visits unbeaten Piner (varsity 7:30 p.m.) and Analy travels to Maria Carrillo (7 p.m.).
Piner (1-0, 7-0) has made short work of teams this season, outscoring opponents by a whopping, 397-14.
Maria Carrillo (0-1, 33) could be the most beatable opponent the Tigers will face in league competition, coming off a 20-19 loss to Ukiah on Friday.
El Mo falls in OT
The Oct. 4 visit to Santa Rosa was not for faint-of-heart defensive aficionados, as the Lions and Panthers combined for 1,048 total yards.
The Lions took an early 7-0 lead, but the flood gates opened in a wide-open second quarter that would put Santa Rosa up 22-21 at the half.
Both teams continued to run the ball effectively in the third quarter, led by El Mo quarterback Weston Lewis (25-213 yards rushing, 5 TDs) and Santa Rosa back Mason Frost (27-439 yards rushing, 6 TDs).
The Lions surged back into the lead at 37-35 after three quarters, but could not slow the Panther running game as the contest moved to overtime, knotted at 44 apiece.
El Mo coughed up a fumble on its first overtime possession, ultimately setting up a 10-yard scoring burst from Frost as Santa Rosa escaped with a 50-44 victory.
“We played very well on offense and very poorly on defense,” El Mo head coach Randy Parmeter said.
In addition to Lewis’ rushing prowess, the junior signal-caller also completed 15 of 25 pass attempts for 226 yards and one touchdown. Other top offensive players included receivers Jackson Dunkle (7-64 yards), Cole Van Stone (2-81 yards), Jalen Hall (5-58 yards) and Ryan Palmer (2-23 yards, TD). Leading defenders were Colman Hayes (4 tackles, 19 assists), Deddy Coshnear (9 assists), Palmer (7 assists), Hall (2 tackles, 2 assists), Tyler Klaus (1, 3), Ben Gonzalez (1, 3), David Estrada (4 assists), Dunkle (4 assists), Soul Berna (3 assists) and Anthony Pacheco (3 assists).
Tigers swamped by Jags
Analy’s Oct. 5 visit to Windsor had a modest start, with the Jaguars clinging to a 7-0 lead after one. The Jags’ defense took over in the second quarter, with the first of five interceptions off of Analy quarterback Gavin Allingham leading to a Windsor score and a 14-0 lead. The flood gates soon opened, as the Jags added a touchdown on a 70-yard punt return and then picked off three more passes, including two that were taken to the house, as Windsor led 47-0 at the break.
The Tigers avoided the shutout late in the fourth quarter when back-up quarterback Jake Acosta hit receiver Kolby Elledge on a three-yard touchdown pass as Windsor cruised to a 47-8 victory.
Acosta finished his first extensive action under center with six completions on 10 pass attempts for 42 yards and a touchdown. Other offensive leaders were Elledge (4-49 yards receiving, TD) and Will Koenig (6-46 yards receiving).
“We’re looking forward to getting back out on the field this Friday against Maria Carrillo,” Tigers head coach James Foster said.
