Trojans clear the way for Analy showdown

Petaluma got the most from a punishing ground game to overwhelm winless Elsie Allen, 69-14, on Friday in Santa Rosa. It was the fourth Sonoma County League win in succession for the Trojans (7-2) who insured their best finish in football since 2009.

Following a SCL bye week, the Trojans will host front-running Analy in two weeks in a crucial battle for first place and No. 1 SCL placement in the North Coast Division III playoffs.

Everybody got into the act against the pass-happy Lobos, who threw the football 38 times in the first half, resulting in four Petaluma interceptions and good field position most of the way. Twice the Lobos threw from their own 20-yard line on fourth down, and dropped passes turned the ball over to the Trojans with a short field in front of them.

On three series, the Lobos were unsuccessful and very little time came off the clock, giving Petaluma additional opportunities to grind out touchdown-producing drives.

Elsie Allen did manage to score first on a pass of 18 yards from Mike Van Guilder to a very athletic Jalen Busby to take a 6-0 lead, but it was short lived.

Petaluma then patiently turned to a productive ground game, and rolled up 55 unanswered points before the long first half ended.

Junior Luke Wheless and fullback Yuseff Kawasami ran for two touchdowns each behind very productive blocking, while quarterback Brendan White, Lucus Dentoni and Tyler Williams scored once each in the land assault by the Trojans.

White threw sparingly in the rout, but was able to toss for a pair of scores to Wheless and Greg Thomas in the first half. The 40-yard completion to Thomas was the longest pass play of the night for the Trojans.

With reserves taking over prior to intermission, back-up quarterback Harrison Royal moved over from a wing back slot to engineer a 58-yard march for a score in the final seconds, culminating in a 3-yard run by Wheless.

The second half was played with a running clock, but the Trojans had time to punch in a touchdown run by Kawasami and a 26-yard gallop by wingback Matt Saxon. Kawasami, averaging 105 rushing yards per game, got things rolling with a run of 37 yards the first time he touched the ball in the second half which set up a touchdown. He finished with a game high 114 yards rushing, while Wheless had his best offensive showing of the season with 102 yards on the ground.

Elsie Allen displayed a tireless long passing attack which occasionally paid dividends, especially when the lanky Busby was involved. Most of the throws by Van Guilder were along the sideline to a leaping Busby. In the third period, Busby took a backward pass and tossed 30 yards to Rasean Barrios for a Lobo touchdown.

Knowing that passes were on the menu, the Trojans stacked their defenses and came away with four thefts in the second quarter. Williams, Eamon McMahan, Andrew Posert and Conner Dennison all joined in on the fun for Petaluma by jumping in front of receivers to steal the ball.

Coach Rick Krist was able to clear the bench defensively, and all of the Trojans got valuable minutes.

Thomas, who goes both ways, had a solid game on defense in addition to nine PAT kicks and booming boots into the end zone which pinned the Lobos deep in their own territory.

The offensive-minded Elsie Allen club scored in double figures for the third consecutive game in SCL play. It was also announced that the Santa Rosa-based school was playing its 100th football in school history.