Thomas boots Trojans to win over Hounds

Petaluma place-kicker Greg Thomas calmly booted a game-winning 28-yard field goal with one second left on the clock to pace the Trojans to a thrilling 31-28 win over stubborn Healdsburg at Recreation Park on Friday.

A three-and-out defensive stand turned the ball over to the Trojans on the Petaluma 31-yard line with two minutes remaining after the Greyhounds tied things up on a 40-yard hook-and-go pass play earlier in the final period.

Healdsburg running back Michael Van Dorn, who bulled his way to 207 rushing yards through the Petaluma defense, was throttled twice in the series with a couple of well-timed stunts forcing the Hounds to give up the ball.

With time at a premium, Petaluma went to its ground game featuring 220-pound running back Yusef Kawasami, and the senior delivered with a clutch 37-yard run to get the ball in range for Thomas. Time on the field was stopped by Trojan coach Rick Krist after a couple of running plays got the ball into position in front of the goal posts.

Thomas, normally a very reliable kicker, missed an earlier attempt at three points in the first half, but got the job done when it counted this time around, and the Trojan followers went into wild celebration mode on the north sidelines.

It was an exclamation point for Thomas, who knocked in four extra points and scored the final Petaluma touchdown on a 34-yard gallop earlier in the final period.

If that wasn’t enough, it was Thomas who made a touchdown-saving tackle of Hound return specialist Tanner Cristando, who broke through a wave of Trojans on a delayed kick-off return.

There were too many Trojan players for Krist to name them all in front of the squad after the game, but he told his team that Petaluma won the contest “on our terms.”

“How about the play of Kawasami tonight?” Krist did allow as he asked the team afterward to a hearty roar of Trojan player approval. The bulldozing fullback took advantage of solid blocking up front by center Chris Temple and his mates to gallop for a game-high 233 yards and a pair of long touchdown runs to keep Petaluma in the lead for most of the night.

It was the second consecutive monster rushing performance for Kawasami, who ran for 185 yards in a win over Piner a week earlier.

“We got punched in the mouth by their ground game,” admitted Krist, “That Van Dorn is a fine running back, and he was difficult to contain. We will look at the film and make some adjustments, but we had some kids really step up in the final part of the game.”

Petaluma made it tough for Healdsburg sophomore quarterback Levi Yeley by intercepting four passes, including three in the first quarter. The last of the three by a leaping Connor Dennison set up the Trojans for the first touchdown of the night on a 10-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brendan White on a keeper that completely fooled the Hounds.

Dennison had a sparking effort on the defensive side of the line with open field tackles to prevent Healdsburg from breaking touchdown runs. In most cases, it was the hard-working Van dorn who gained extra yardage by shedding Trojan tackle attempts.

The work of Kawasami for the Trojans wasn’t shabby either. Working in concert with his blocking up front, Kawasami broke free for touchdowns of 35 and 64 yards by running away from the Hound secondary with strong second-effort carries. He gained 161 yards by halftime with the Trojans leading 21-14.

White continued to be a vital part of the Trojan running game with 74 yards on 16 carries. Overall Petaluma amassed 385 total yards offensively.

Petaluma boosted its playoff hopes by improving to 2-1 in the Sonoma County League and 5-2 for the season.

Healdsburg fell to 1-6 for the season, but got props from Krist for a very good effort overall. “They are much better than their record. I was worried about our holding onto the football on that last drive against their aggressive tackling.”

Dennison, Ben Upton and Lucas Dentoni all played well on defense for the Trojans. Interceptions by juniors Harrison Royal and Tyler Williams were instrumental in keeping the Hound offense off the field.

Healdsburg captured the junior varsity contest 13-0.