3-1 Jags will visit Montgomery this Friday, Sept. 30
The varsity football Jaguars hit their first road-bump of the 2016 campaign on Friday, falling 12-7 to visiting Maria Carrillo in the North Bay League opener at Bailey Field on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.
The Pumas erased a 7-0 deficit with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, the last one coming on a 31-yard scoring pass with 3:34 left to pull out an unlikely victory.
The Jaguars (3-1, 0-1) will resume league action this Friday, Sept. 30 when they visit Montgomery in Santa Rosa in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The Vikings also fell to 3-1, 0-1 with a 63-21 loss to Rancho Cotate on Sept. 23.
The Jags entered the league opener with Carrillo on a defensive roll, having allowed just seven points in their first three games, including successive shutouts over Northgate and Hayward. The defense continued its outstanding play in recording a season-high 10 sacks against the Pumas on Friday, but it was not enough to overcome costly offensive miscues.
Murphy’s Law was in full effect for the usually steady Windsor offense, which was assessed over 200 yards in penalties, including a pair of touchdowns called back due to flags.
“It was a weird game,” WHS head coach Tom Kirkpatrick said. “We were smothering them on defense but kept shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers. I’ve never seen a team record 10 sacks and still lose the game.”
The Jaguars broke a scoreless tie in the third quarter when quarterback Kobe Roman engineered a drive resulting in a 15-yard scoring strike to receiver Jordan Diaz for a 7-0 lead after three.
The game turned for the Pumas in the fourth when Carrillo running back Tevila Salato scampered in from 11-yards out. The try for the 2-point conversion failed and Windsor led 7-6.
The score remained unchanged until late in the period when Pumas’ quarterback Jake Wolski hit receiver Seth Vernon in the end zone on a 31-yard touchdown pass on a miraculous fourth down play, as Maria Carrillo escaped with a 12-7 win.
Roman finished up a tough night with 9 completions on 20 pass attempts for 120 yards and one touchdown. Jackson Baughman led all Windsor rushers with 51 yards on 6 carries. The linebacking corps of Bret Stibi (12 tackles), Joey Pignataro (11 tackles) and Jarrod Mulholland (10 tackles) played great defense for the Jaguars.
