Football kicks off with home games

Undefeated area high school football teams face tough tests this weekend with the common goal of still being undefeated when those tests are graded. Of course, the locals’ opponents are also undefeated as the season starts with everybody carrying a clean slate.

All three of Petaluma’s teams play home games, although Casa Grande, with its field covered with construction equipment, will play its opener against Analy Friday night at Santa Rosa High School.

Petaluma High plays at home in reality as well as in name, hosting Windsor’s Jaguars on Friday.

Both games are at 7:30 p.m. following 5 p.m. junior varsity contests.

St. Vincent opens Saturday afternoon at Yarbrough Field against St. Helena. The junior varsity game is at noon, followed by the varsity contest at 2 p.m.

Both homeless

Casa Grande’s game against Analy will match two teams intent on being “Road Warriors.” Neither will have a true home game this season as both schools are having new synthetic turf installed on their playing fields.

Casa Grande is the designated “home’ team for Friday night’s season opener after playing last season in Sebastopol in a game the returning Gauchos remember, and not fondly.

In a much ballyhooed game between the defending Sonoma County League champion Tigers and the defending North Bay League champion Gauchos, one of the best Analy teams in years ran through and around the Gauchos, while passing over them in a 47-14 romp.

That opening-game victory spring-boarded Analy to an 11-2 season, and an undefeated run to the SCL championship. The loss sent Casa Grande spinning to five straight defeats before it got squared away and won five of its last six to finish 6-7 for the season.

As it turned out, Casa Grande and Analy reached the same pinnacle at the season’s end ­ ­- in the North Coast Section semifinals where Casa Grande lost in Division 2 to Clayton Valley, 55-3, while Analy was defeated by Campolindo in Division 3, 62-46.

Casa Grande coach Trent Herzog said that, while no one is talking about last season, “I am sure our players are taking these guys extremely seriously. We will be playing with a little edge.”

While memories of last year remain, many of those players are gone. Analy lost 15 starters off last year’s powerhouse, including super back Ja’narrick James, the SCL Player of the Year and its deadly passing combination of quarterback Will Smith and receiver Kerr Johnson, Jr.

But that doesn’t mean the Tigers’ will be toothless. The Tigers, under coach Daniel Bourdon, have developed a solid program, and both their junior varsity and freshmen teams had strong seasons last year. The Analy junior varsity was undefeated in 10 games.

“They are disciplined and they execute very, very well,” says Herzog. “They lost some guys, but they have a very solid program. I would rank their program among the top three or four in the North Bay.”

Jack Newman. a junior, takes over at quarterback, He quietly enjoyed an impressive sophomore season as Smith’s backup, completing 21 of 35 passing attempts (a .600 completion percentage) for 306 yards and five touchdowns.

He will be throwing to a pair of veteran receivers in Schuyler Van Weele and Lucas Housman. Van Weele caught 32 pases for 559 yards and five touchdowns last season, while Housman had 17 receptions for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

The Analy defense, led by returning veteran linebackers Isaac kangas and Tristan Savage, are expected to provide a difficult opening test for a new Casa Grande offensive line.

If the line holds, it could be a big season for returning Casa quarterback JJ Anderson and explosive running backs Spencer Torkelson and Max Cerini.

Casa Grande’s improved defense, featuring Andrew Florke at defensive end and Nick Jensen as the next in a succession of outstanding Gaucho linebackers, is primed to prove itself against the Analy attack. Florke was especially impressive in last Saturday’s scrimmage against Piner.

Well coached

“They are a good football team. They are well coached,” says Petaluma High School coach Rick Krist of the Trojans’ season-opening opponent - Windsor’s jaguars.

Redwood empire opponents could expect nothing less from a team coached by Tom Kirkpatrick, who became something of a Redwood Empire coaching legend with his work in establishing a solid and successful football program at Healdsburg.

Kirkpatrick coached Healdsburg from 1987 to 2000, stepped back from coaching until 2007 when he returned as Healdsburg coach before retiring again in 2011. During those two spans, he never had a losing season.

He replaces Vic Amick who was fired last December after three years as Windsor head coach. He was let go despite a strong 2014 season when the Jaguars went 8-4 (4-3 in the North Bay League) and reached the North Coast section Division 2 playoffs.

Kirkpatrick’s job is to harness the always talented Jaguar players into a team.

If the results of the Jaguars’ opening scrimmage at American Canyon are any indication, he is well on his way to accomplishing that task.

“They went through Rodriguez and Fairfield like they were wet paper,” Krist said. “They looked very good.”

The Jaguars are expected to give the young Petaluma defense a staunch test with a veteran offensive line anchored by returning veterans Riley Cleaver, Alex Tancreto (6-2, 220) and Blake Stibi (5-10, 215).

Petaluma looked good in its own four-way scrimmage showing an ability to quickly move the football with returning quarterback Brendan White on target with his passes and aggressive running.

Petaluma and Windsor did not play last season, although the Jaguars did face Casa Grande in an NBL game, beating the Gauchos, 27-7.

Saints marching in

St. Helena’s Saints come marching into St. Vincent’s Yarbrough Field with another potential powerhouse team.

The Saints will be hard pressed to match the success of last season’s team that went 12-2, shared the North Central League I crown with Fort Bragg and went all the way to the North Coast Section Division 5 finals before losing to Salesian, 14-7.

St. Helena will not have several of the stars on that team, including quarterback jack Preston, last year’s All-Empire small School Athlete of the Year, on the team that comes to St. Vincent Saturday.

But it will have another in its seemingly endless supply of outstanding athletes, including Preston’s replacement, junior Dylan Martin, coming up from the junior varsity with an impressive reputation.

Returning is the Saints leading ball carrier from the championship team. Javier Otero, missed three games at the end of last season with a leg injury, still gained 948 yards in 10 games, scoring 11 touchdowns.

With Martin throwing and Otero running behind a good-sized offensive line, the Saints are expected to give the Mustang defense a good test, although that group looked very good last week in a scrimmage against El Molino and Kelseyville.

St. Vincent’s main offensive weapons, returning starting quarterback Dominic Pedersen and veteran running back Manny Reyes were impressive on the other side of the ball in that scrimmage.

St. Vincent gave St. Helena’s 2014 powerhouse all it could handle in a game played in St. Helena last season, with the Saints finally prevailing, 27-21.

“They are a typical St. ?Helena team,” says St. Vincent coach Gary Galloway. “They are going to be one of the powerhouses in their division.

“They have a good line and their running game looks good with that back returning from lat year, but we always play well against them.”