By Caleb Knudsen
Every sports team encounters a rough patch, and the good teams play through them. Last year’s NFC champions and Super Bowl contestants, the San Francisco 49ers, were off to a good start as the season began but stumbled, and now sit in mid-standings with a 2-3 record.
Something similar is happening in Healdsburg to the high school’s varsity Greyhounds team. After jumping out to an intoxicating three straight wins, they’ve encountered stiffer competition with the beginning of their Mountain Division season and are now 3-3.
The latest blow to their collective confidence came last Friday in Novato, with their second game in the division. The multi-tiered North Coast Section structure means they play in the NCS Redwood League, Mountain Division, composed mostly of smaller Division 6 or D6 teams.
Novato, however, is a D3 team, with a significantly larger student body. That greater pool of athletic talent means the team they fielded on Friday night, Oct. 4, was by many measures a stronger team. They had won their previous four games, and added a fifth on Friday night.
But it was no cakewalk. The dogged Greyhounds defense kept the game close enough throughout, allowing only a field goal in the first quarter despite a kickoff return to Healdsburg’s 49-yard line by Dominic Scafani. When it was their turn after the field goal, the Greyhounds failed to get a first down and were forced to punt. Still, the quarter ended with a 3-0 score, and an upset seemed within reach.
The second quarter, however, proved the undoing of the Hounds. When Healdsburg again failed to get a first down, stymied by the bigger Novato defensive line, their punt was returned by Scafini for the first touchdown of the game.
As the quarter advanced, Healdsburg started a drive from a punt return through three first downs, eventually reaching the 20-yard line with paydirt in sight. But a fumble by the ball carrier put the ball into Christian Castro’s hands, and the junior sped 80 yards downfield for the second Hornets’ TD.
A final score in the first half was a third Novato touchdown, this one on a completed pass from QB Trevor Cleary to Scafani with less than a minute of time left on the clock. That put the score at 22-0 for the half—and that proved to be the final.
Healdsburg’s Nova Perrill II had another strong game, but the numbers were a bit off from his usual high standards. He completed less than half his pass attempts, 11 of 24, for only 95 yards in the air. But he was sacked six times, which surely affected his confidence over time.
Perrill only carried the ball twice, usually handing off to either Frank Rea, who carried five times for 22 yards, or to Christian Flores, who carried seven times for 17 yards.
Hayden Mariani and Max Morris each caught four passes, Mariani for 55 yards and Morris for 26. But those offensive yards were far below what Healdsburg had delivered in its previous five games. Defensively, Morris and Nathanial Rowland led with six and four solo tackles each, but Novato’s 201 total yards showed their dominance over Healdsburg’s 143.
Still, the second half saw both teams remain scoreless, despite a Novato interception of a Perrill pass in the third quarter—which was answered by Rowland’s interception of a Cleary pass inside the 20-yard red zone. But neither team was able to hit paydirt and it was a frustrated coach Criss Rosales, and Healdsburg Greyhounds team, that returned home late Friday night.
The stat sheet shows that the defense was a strength for the Hounds, especially All League-bound senior Nathaniel Rowland. He blocked two conversion kick attempts, forced a fumble, claimed the interception and had four tackles for a loss. Overall it was a hard-fought defensive battle on both sides, but home-field luck prevailed for the Hornets.
Next up for the Hounds is another Mountain Division game on the road, against Piner in Santa Rosa on Oct. 11. On paper at least, it looks like a fairly even matchup, with the 3-2 Prospectors meeting the 3-3 Greyhounds.
But the real test will be how it looks on the grass.
Friday’s game time is 7pm, at Piner High, 1700 Fulton Rd., Santa Rosa. Next home game is Oct. 18 against Terra Linda, 7pm at Rec Park.
