Windsor looking to rebound Friday vs. Santa Rosa
The varsity football Jaguars fell from the ranks of the unbeaten on Friday in the 2019 home opener against Livermore, with a late turnover spoiling a great overall effort in a 20-14 loss to the Cowboys.
The battle of undefeated teams turned for the visitors with 10 minutes left in the game when the Cowboys returned a Windsor fumble for a touchdown to break a 14-14 deadlock and lift them to victory.
“It was tough to lose our first home game of the season but we definitely made too many mistakes on both sides of the ball,” Jags head coach Brad Stibi said. “There were just too many missed tackles on defense and turnovers on offense.”
The Jaguars (2-1) will try to regroup this Friday, Sept. 13 when they play host to Santa Rosa in a 7 p.m. varsity kickoff. The Panthers fell to 0-3 on Friday with a 35-22 loss to Ukiah, but won’t be taken lightly this week.
“Santa Rosa always plays us tough so our preparation is key,” Stibi noted. “We will recover and be ready on Friday.”
Battle of unbeatens
The Sept. 6 home clash with Livermore featured two undefeated teams, and both came out firing on Friday. The Jaguars drew first blood in the opening period when senior quarterback Billy Boyle found senior receiver Jake Sievers on a 25-yard scoring strike. Otis Cain added the point after kick and Windsor led 7-0.
The Cowboys stormed back moments later when running back Dom Belluomini cashed in on a 31-yard touchdown burst to knot the game at 7-7. Livermore found pay dirt on its next possession when quarterback Shaun Smith made good on a 25-yard keeper for a 14-7 lead.
The Windsor defense dug in for what would be a hard-nosed performance, getting key interceptions from Nico Contreras and Chris Sanchez to keep the Cowboys off the board.
The Jaguars drew even late in the second quarter when a strong drive culminated in a 19-yard touchdown scamper from Lorenzo Leon to knot the contest at 14-all at the half.
The score remained unchanged until 10 minutes left in the game when Livermore defender Dustin Hart recovered a bad snap for the Jaguars, taking it to the house for the game winner.
Boyle finished the night with eight completions on 23 pass attempts for 107 yards and one touchdown, while adding 37 yards on the ground. Leading rushers were Leon (20-83, TD), Jeremiah Pignataro (11-71 yards) and Joey Skinner (1-4 yards. Top receivers included Landen Estrela (5-29 yards) and Sievers (1-25 yards, TD).
Leading tacklers were Pignataro (8 tackles, 2 assists), Nico Zamora (7, 2), Oscar Mayorga (4, 4, sack), Leon (4, 3), Estrela (4, 3), Zak Keith (5 tackles), Julian Pell (4, 2), Nico Contreras (4, 2, INT), Gianni Domenichelli (2, 6), Skinner (3 tackles), Sanchez (2 tackles, INT) and a tackles apiece from Jacob Thrall and Arnie Meineke.
