FALL SPORTS PREVIEW: Friday night lights could shine bright on Trojans

The Friday night lights at Petaluma High School’s Steve Ellison Field could be shining bright on the Trojans this football season.

Petaluma finished second in the Sonoma County League with a 4-2 record last year, was 7-4 overall and reached the North Coast Section playoffs. The Trojans lose several key players from that team, but also return several who were seasoned in the fire of a competitive campaign and are hungry to take the next step.

“We had talented players last year, but I think we are a little better this year overall,” coach Rick Krist says. “We have players at every position that have all-league potential.”

Leading the list of returning veterans is senior quarterback Brendan White, an All-SCL selection last season. He had a good season last year, passing for 560 yards and eight touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,242 yards and a team-leading 11 touchdowns.

“He is very athletic. He could play any position,” says Krist. “He is throwing the ball a lot better this year. He put in a lot of time in the passing league this summer. He may be the best passer we’ve had in many years and he can run, too. He has watched a lot of film and is working on his decision making.”

Quarterback decision making is vital for Petaluma and its option offense. This year, the Trojans’ basic offense will again be the option, but there might be a few wrinkles after Krist and assistant coach Dave Poteracke attended a coaches clinic at Georgia Tech during the summer.

“We put a lot of effort into the offensive side over the summer,” Krist said.

The success of any offense begins with the players in the trenches.

Unlike in years past, when the Trojans have had to mix and match and change on their front line, the Trojans start the season pretty well set with starters and depth behind them.

“This will be one of the biggest lines we’ve had for awhile,” Krist said.

Ben Upton moves from tackle to anchor the line at center.

The guards will be Jorge Becerra and Zane Overton and the tackles will be Travis Plank, who moves over from guard, Casey Goddard and John Lautner. Plank is expected to again be one of the best two-way linemen in the Empire.

Will O’Neill will fill in where needed on both offense and defense.

Robert Krist returns after a strong junior season to play tight end, backed up by Justen Santa.

White will be throwing to a group of basically new, but potentially talented, receivers led by starters Eamon McMahon and Jacob Solorzano, backed up by Jesse Johnson and Jimmy Flynn.

Petaluma lost a big hunk of its ground game, and that means its offense, with the graduation of Yusef Kawasami, who ran for 1,242 yards last season.

However, there is speed and some experience returning, although there will be some shuffling.

Tyler Williams and Lucas Dentoni, both of whom played halfback last season, will shift to fullback. Dentoni averaged 5.1 yards per carry while rushing for 251 yards and four touchdowns, while Williams had just five carries last year.

There will be exceptional speed at halfback in Harrison Royall, Luke Wheless and Conner Richardson. Wheless ran for 237 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per carry, while Royall gained 91 yards on the ground and was also the Trojans’ big-play receiver with 239 yards on just 10 catches, with four of his receptions going for touchdowns. He is also Petaluma’s main kick returner.

All the Petaluma backs will get playing time. “There are no plays off at that position,” explains Krist. “It is important that the backs be very active on every play.”

Since they also play defense, there will be more than enough minutes for every back to get playing time.

The same key bodies will line up on defense with Plank, Upton, O’Neill, Becerra and Overton on the defensive line. Nicholas Dorn, coming up from the junior varsity, has also looked good on the defensive side.

White, one of the team’s best athletes, will get no coach-consultation time when the Trojans are on defense as he plays outside linebacker along with Dentoni and Richardson. Goddard and Williams will be the middle linebackers with Lautner and Krist also seeing time at the linebacking positions.

The corners will be Eamon McMahon and Royall, with Solorzano and Wheless at the safeties.

There isn’t a lot of rest with so many Trojans playing on both sides of the football, but Krist says that can be offset by the judicious use of the bodies available.

“Our big things will be to get into a rotation and good communication between our offensive and defensive coaches so that we can give some guys a rest,” he says.

The coach has been pleasantly surprised by the play of some of the reserve players in early practices.

“We may have more depth at certain positions than we thought we had,” he said, pointing to players like lineman Hunter Hurst, linebacker Eric Coats and halfback Dominic Christobal as potential important contributors.

One area where the Trojans are definitely scrambling is in the kicking game, with last season’s all-leaguer Greg Thomas now at Arizona State.

“We’re still trying out guys,” Krist said. Eric Blomgren, Christobal and Santa are all possibilities.

The Trojan early schedule is loaded, with its first two games against Windsor and new coach Tom Kirkpatrick (Aug. 28) and Vintage’s senior-dominated team (Sept. 4). “Those two games may be our toughest all season,” Krist says.

Krist sees the Sonoma County League as being very competitive.

League-unbeaten powerhouse Analy loses much of its senior-laden team, but Krist notes that the Tigers had strong junior varsity and freshman teams last season.

He points to Piner and Sonoma as being strong and Healdsburg being much improved. He notes that El Molino always plays tough and Elsie Allen has good athletes and could be in line to surprise some people.

“I think the league has good balance,” he says.