Windsor ends successful season with 7-4 record
With all the hard work and strategizing that goes into preparing a high school football game, the outcome can often be decided by the fickle hands of fate.
So it seemed for the Jaguars in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 3 playoffs on Friday at Rancho Cotate, as No. 7 Windsor gave the No. 2 Cougars all they wanted and more before falling in a heartbreaker, 38-33.
Although the weather didn’t seem to slow either offense, the game was contested on a field socked in by thick fog, with visibility deteriorating badly by the second half.
The game featured wild momentum swings and numerous lead changes but would ultimately be decided on a pair of fluke touchdowns off turnovers in the second half.
“It was a great effort,” Jags head coach Brad Stibi reflected after the game. “We learned a ton about ourselves as a team and we will take a lot from it. The kids played with passion and fought to the end.”
Great effort comes up short
The Jaguars came out focused and ready in the first quarter, as quarterback Billy Boyle connected with receiver Nico Contreras on a pair of early touchdowns for a 13-3 lead. The Cougars answered quickly to surge into the lead at 17-13 early in the second, but a 95-yard bomb from backup quarterback Chase Vehmeyer to receiver E.Z. Woodard would propel Windsor to a 26-17 halftime lead.
The fireworks continued throughout the third quarter, with the Cougars keeping it close on a 48-yard defensive scoop and score to cut the deficit to 26-24.
The Jaguars took a 33-30 advantage into the final period, but fate would again rear its ugly head.
Windsor clung to a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter when Rancho defender Mihalis Santorineos picked off a Windsor pass at the 25 yard line and took it to the house, lifting the Cougars to a 38-33 victory.
Boyle finished up a great senior campaign with 303 yards passing and four touchdowns. Other top performers were Contreras (9-211 yards receiving, 2 TDs) and Jeremiah Pignataro (7-43 yards rushing).
