Any game that begins with the opposing team scoring two touchdowns without running an offensive play is not off to a good start. That’s what happened Friday night at Rec Park, as the visiting Fortuna Huskies scored twice on turnovers—an interception and a fumble—to rack up a 13-0 score before the first hot dog was sold.
Healdsburg received the opening kickoff, then quarterback Nova Perrill II’s first attempted pass was picked off by Fortuna’s outside linebacker Quinn Hall, who raced 27 yards back to the goal line for the first score of the night.
Healdsburg managed to drive downfield after receiving the following kickoff, but this time Hall scooped up a fumble and returned it 84 yards for another score. Only one of the extra-point kicks was good, but it hardly made a difference as Fortuna scored twice more in the second quarter and had a comfortable 27-0 lead at the half.
The Greyhounds’ offense was unable to mount a sustained attack all night, until the final minutes of the game when Alexander Harms—returning to the lineup after a two-week injury hiatus—took it in from the 6-yard line after a 24-yard run by Perrill, his longest of the night. But by that point the Huskies had scored their fill, and the 7 points were just a dent in the 40-7 final score.
Perrill passed for 86 yards and ran for another 30, but he also threw two interceptions and fumbled twice, accounting for four out of five Greyhound turnovers.
Healdsburg’s leading rusher was Tyler Swanson with 45 yards on seven carries. Harms managed only 9 yards on 10 carries throughout the game, his six-yard scoring run the longest of the night. But Fortuna’s Jake Houseworth finished with a team-best 147 yards on 10 carries, including a score on a 50-yard TD run to end the second quarter.
Hayden Mariani was Healdsburg’s leading receiver, with three receptions for 72 yards, while on the defensive side of the line he made an interception off Fortuna’s quarterback Kameron Elam, and picked up two fumbles as well.
Defensively, Nathaniel Rowland hung tough for the Hounds, making a team-leading six tackles, with two assists and a sack.
This Friday the Greyhounds’ NBL-Oak league season begins with a trip up Highway 101 to Ukiah to face the Wildcats (4-3 overall, with a league win against Maria Carrillo last weekend). Next home game is against Maria Carrillo on Oct. 20, with the Oct. 27 meeting against St. Vincent de Paul providing the season’s final home game.
