By John Linker
It had been three years, or as the whisper throughout the crowd put it more exactly, 1,072 days, since the Healdsburg Hounds Varsity football team had won a game. But last Friday night, in front of a jam-packed home crowd, the Hounds ended that losing streak with a 35-21 win over the neighboring Cloverdale Eagles.
Led by the strong and accurate arm of quarterback Nova Perrill II, the Hounds’ offense showed confidence, sharp attention to details and an unparalleled desire to keep pushing. Under the guidance of new head coach Criss Rosales, they never let up.
Game On
In the first quarter, on a no-huddle fourth down, Alexander Harms scored the Greyhounds’ first down of the season, and the team never looked back. Though not scoring on their first drive, the Hounds controlled the clock until they had to punt with 5:57 left in the first quarter.
The Hounds’ defense took over with a powerful show of focus and determination led by Nathaniel Rowland. Rowland made numerous rush tackles and his presence was felt in nearly every play.
The defensive pressure of Rowlands and Harms, along with an impressive front line, forced an early fumble, setting up a thrilling fake handoff and 19-yard pass to Hayden Mariani for a touchdown. Christian Camacho Ruiz kicked his first of many successful extra points.
The next Eagle drive was quickly extinguished as well, again led by the relentless Rowland, causing an Eagle mistake on a bad snap, and with 14 yards to go, Perill connected with Dillan Jocius for a touchdown. By the end of the quarter the Hounds were up 14-0.
The Eagles finally got something going on a broken play that led them to the Hounds’ 23-yard-line. Out of an I-formation, sophomore halfback Carson Brown, with 7:42 left before the half, ran from the five-yard-line for a touchdown, making the score 14-7.
The Buzz
The Eagles’ joy was short-lived. On the next play, sophomore Frank Rea, known for wearing his buttoned-down collared shirts in the classroom, ran behind a thick cordon of blockers before running ahead of the crowd and down the field for a return of 95 yards. To celebrate, he held the ball for the extra-point kicker, Camacho.
Minutes later, on another potential Eagle drive, Rea intercepted with 4 minutes left to get the ball back for the Greyhounds.
With 2 minutes left in the half, and after a strange string of penalties coupled with a few broken plays, the Eagles’ drive finally fizzled beneath the tenacious Hound defense. It was 21-7 at the half, leaving the crowd buzzing and full of hope that the three-year drought since the last victory was about to be broken.
Second Half
More of the same continued in the second half with Rowland, Christian Flores and Rea combining for numerous tackles to stop the Eagles and quickly give the Hounds’ offense the ball again. With completions to Harms and Mariani, and some creative catch-and-runs by Areum Romero, Perrill continued to confidently move the team down the field. An eight-yard pass to Mariani, screening wide to the right, inflated the score to 28-7.
Not until the fourth quarter did the Eagles break through with a solid string of running gains, followed by a fake hand-off and pass for 30 yards that led to their second touchdown. The extra point missed, bouncing off the bright yellow uprights of the brand-new goal posts. With 9:35 left on the clock, the score was 28-13, Healdsburg.
For the Hounds, the fourth quarter was full of pass plays, showing off the arm of Perrill, who finished the game completing 14 of 23 attempts, for 116 yards. The senior loves to throw, and first-year coach Criss Rosales is not afraid to make use of that skill.
The Eagles, however, did not give up and continued to rely on their running game. With the help of a pass-interference call, and what looked like a knee injury to center Eli Zepeda, Cloverdale finally moved down the field. Brown went into the end zone for the third time, and he followed it up with a 2-point conversion to make it 28-21.
With 6:32 left, coach Rosales was clearly keeping an eye on the clock. The passing offense, mixed with the frustrations of the Eagles, resulted in two penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct. The plays ate up the time and the yards. The Hounds’ final drive was highlighted by some keeper runs by Perrill and a one-yard touchdown by Andrew Barr—the first time he touched the ball.
The final score was 35-21. The drought had ended.
Post-Game
Rosales praised the overall effort of his athletes, saying, “The players have been hungry since spring ball back in May. They have been responding to the long hours in the classroom and the extreme hard work on the field. They absolutely love the challenge. It was evident out of the gate they wanted this victory.”
Giving credit to the Eagles, Rosales said, “They had a great game plan and they are very well coached. They made us work for sure.”
But the young coach introduced a note of caution, saying: “It’s a very long season so we can’t get overly excited by one week. We have a very tough opponent coming up next week, and our preparation has begun.”
The Hounds are not only back, they look focused, disciplined, proud and excited to play. There’s no more counting of days, except the next seven until they host the Saints of St. Helena, on Friday, Sept. 6.
