By John Linker
Last Friday night, in front of an excited and anxious home crowd, the Healdsburg Varsity Football team lost to the Terra Linda Trojans, unable to put an end to their three-game losing streak. The Hounds, who are now 3-5 overall, played an emotional game, especially in the second half, but their 28-19 loss to Terra Linda gives them a 0-4 record in league play.
The Greyhounds played well, especially at the start of the first half. Nova Perrill II led the team, with his signature fakes, keeper runs (one for the first touchdown on the first drive of the game) and mostly accurate arm, especially on his swing passes to Hayden Mariani.
Mariani is proving himself to be a versatile athlete, with his quick receptions and agile runs. Receiver Areum Romero also showed consistency as a receiver. Frank Rea had the longest run of the game (that did not get called back by a penalty). Rea also threw the first touchdown of his high school varsity career, connecting with Max Morris in the fourth quarter.
Stout Defense
Healdsburg’s defense played stout to start the game, and the offense looked strong moving up and down the field. Less than four minutes into the first quarter, they led the game 7-0 on Perrill’s keeper and a conversion kick by the reliable Christian Camacho Ruiz.
Whether it was Nathaniel Rowland, who tackled one runner so vigorously that his own contact lens popped out, or Mariani and Perrill in their defensive roles, who both broke up passes and prevented long runs, the entirety of the defense held the noticeably quick Trojans scoreless for the first 22 minutes of the game.
Andy Duran played tough on both sides of the ball, with spirited tackles and quick sweep blocking. Dillan Jocious and Leo Kluse had their share of tackles holding back the Trojans’ offense as long as they could. In fact, after Terra Linda intercepted an errant Perrill pass and ran it back 45 yards, the Hounds executed strong defensive play and stopped the Trojan attack on the four-yard line.
But the Greyhounds made some costly errors they couldn’t quite overcome. Both teams held the ball for extended drives but could not deliver, until the Trojans scored twice with less than two minutes left in the half.
Burdened by a number of dropped passes, a second interception and some unfortunate referee calls, including an apparent possible pass interference that didn’t get called, Healdsburg found itself on the short end of the halftime score, 15-7.
Second Half
The Greyhounds came out strong in the second half, stopping Terra Linda’s first drive on another fourth-and-long attempt. The Hounds’ offense started out well too with a series of running and passing plays that ate up the clock until, hit by a surprise Trojan blitz, they themselves had to turn over possession on downs.
Terra Linda quickly took advantage and scored on a 50-yard touchdown run by Mitchell Graham, making the score 21-7 at the end of the third quarter.
It was on the next Healdsburg possession where things began to unravel. It started with a horse-collar tackle that injured Nova Perrill at the end of a long run downfield. This led to a couple of scuffles and numerous unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to both teams.
Nonetheless, Frank Rea, on his first play taking over for Perrill, threw a touchdown pass to Morris, and the Hounds were back in the game, 21-13.
High Emotions
Unfortunately for Healdsburg, Terra Linda ran back the kickoff for a score, increasing their lead to 28-13. With Perrill back in the game, the Hounds were penalized yet again with unsportsmanlike conduct calls after a 32-yard run that ended in a small fracas.
Healdsburg got into the end zone on a Rea run for a touchdown with 9:02 left in the game, making the score 29-19. But after the kickoff, emotions got the best of both teams once again with a series of unsportsmanlike penalties. With less than two minutes on the clock, the Trojans intercepted for the third time, taking over possession for the remaining time.
The Hounds this year always deliver entertaining football, and this game was no letdown as both teams were trying to put a win in their league record column. It was a sometimes bizarre mixture of what makes high school football compelling to watch: High emotion mixed with stellar plays, tough mishaps and teenagers playing their hearts out.
The 3-5 Hounds have a week off to work on their game plans, then a conference match in Marin County with the 3-4 Archie Williams Falcons on Friday, Nov. 1. (Archie Williams is the former Sir Francis Drake High School, in San Anselmo.) Their next home game won’t be until the season finale on Nov. 11 against the first-place Sonoma Valley Dragons.
