NCS PLAYOFFS: Another season starts for area football teams

Everything starts fresh for all four local high school football teams this weekend with the beginning of the North Coast Section playoffs.

Among the local teams, one plays Friday night, one Saturday afternoon and two Saturday night, with two traveling and two staying home.

In the Division 2 playoffs, Casa Grande has a home opener Saturday night against Miramonte. In Division 3, Petaluma begins Friday night in Martinez. In Division 5, St. Vincent is home Saturday afternoon against Cloverdale, while Tomales plays Saturday night at Middletown.

Gauchos vs. Matadors

What a difference a year makes. Last season, Casa Grande and Miramonte met in the semifinals, just a step away from playing for the NCS championship. Casa Grande was undefeated going into the game, while Miramote had one loss. Miramonte won the battle of the Titans, 41-28.

This year, both teams had to push just to get into the playoffs. Miramonte had to beat Dublin, 34-21, to qualify for the playoffs, while Casa Grande, after an 0-4 start, charged to win four of its final five games to finish the regular season with a 4-6 record.

Despite the difference in records between last year and this, Saturday night’s game should be a good one between two teams that are playing their best football going into the playoffs.

The Matadors from Orinda have been a potent offensive team all season, even while losing to some tough opposition. Junior running back Clayton Stehr has rushed for 863 yards. As a team, the Matadors have rushed the football for 1,418 yards. Shutting down the run will have to be a top piority for linebacker Casey Longaker and the Casa Grande defense.

Junior quarterback Sutter Lindberg has thrown just 110 times all season, but has completed 64 for 752 yards and seven touchdowns.

After losing its first five games to four very tough non-league opponents and North Bay League champion Rancho Cotate, the Gauchos have gotten progressively better each week, finishing the regular season with a 4-1 record that included a dominating 35-12 win over playoff-bound Montgomery last week.

During the second-half stretch run, the Gauchos’ offensive line has developed into a dominating force, allowing sophomore running back Spencer Torkelson and junior quarterback JJ Anderson to develop into potent offensive weapons. Torkelson rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s win over Montgomery and has now run for 633 yards on the season, averaging almost eight yards a carry. Anderson has completed 87 of 162 passes for 1,062 yards and six touchdowns.

Kick off is at 7 p.m.

Trojans vs. Bulldogs

Petaluma’s Division 3 beginning Friday night matches two teams with similar records. Both are 7-3 on the season. Alhambra is 3-3 in the tough Diablo Football Athletic League, while Petaluma is 4-2 in what was a competitive Sonoma County League. Both go into the playoffs coming off losses to tough opponents. Alhambra lost last week to Las Lomas, the Division 3 No. 2 seed, 32-0, while Petaluma was beaten by No. 4 seed Analy, 34-23.

The Bulldogs are a high-scoring team that rang up 47 points in an early season 47-35 win over North Bay League champion Rancho Cotate.

Petaluma’s defense has played well all season, but against high-powered teams like Analy and Alhambra, the Trojans have also relied on a time-consuming offense, led by fullback Yusef Kawsami to keep the ball away from the opposition. The senior has rushed for 1,142 yards this season, averaging close to nine yards per carry.

Kick off is at 7 p.m.

Mustangs vs. Eagles

St. Vincent begins life in the talent-loaded Division 5 playoffs against a familiar foe, facing a Cloverdale team that beat the Mustangs, 28-7, in the second game of the season. That loss was part of a string of four straight defeats suffered by the Mustangs to start the season. After snapping that bad streak with a 68-13 victory over Calistoga, St. Vincent has run off six straight wins to run undefeated to the North Central League II championship, its third straight NCL II title. Cloverdale finished 3-3 in the tough NCL I and matches St. Vincent with a 6-4 overall record.

The game will feature two of the best small-school running backs in the Redwood Empire. Cloverdale’s Luke Bernardi has rushed for more than 1,200 yards and is averaging close to eight yards a carry. St. Vincent’s George Sammon went over 1,000 yards for the season with a career-best 203-yard performance in a win over Tomales last week.

Both teams also have outstanding quarterbacks. Cloverdale’s Greg Scarmella has passed for more than 700 yards and has a quarterback rating of 100.3, while St. Vincent’s Dominic Pedersen has thrown for 1,514 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Kick off is at 1 p.m.

Braves vs. Mustangs

Tomales’ Braves, although they have a similar record as their Saturday night opponent, have a tough assignment in their Division 5 opener, facing Middletown’s Mustangs. Both teams are 7-3 going into the game, but while four of the No. 13-seeded Brave wins have come against NCL II teams with losing records, Middletown, the No. 4 seed, has had to battle through the very dfficult NCL I, losing to league champion St. Helena just 20-13, and to Cloverdale, 25-7.

To advance, the Braves will have to do for an entire game what they did for a half before losing to St. Vincent last week - keep the ball. The Braves will count on a strong offensive line to make way for running backs Willy Lepori and Ivan Gomez to lead long sustained drives.

The Braves will to through the playoffs knowing that any game could be the last for coach Leon Feliciano who is retiring at the end of the season.

Kick off is at 7 p.m.