Ball control not enough for Trojans

After dominating ball possession during most of the first half, Petaluma High’s varsity football team was methodically worn down after intermission as the Trojans dropped a 21-9 decision to visiting Windsor in the season opening game for both teams.|

After dominating ball possession during most of the first half, Petaluma High’s varsity football team was methodically worn down after intermission as the Trojans dropped a 21-9 decision to visiting Windsor in the season opening game for both teams. The depth of the Jaguars eventually made the difference.

Led by senior quarterback Brandon White, the Trojans ran 42 plays in the first two periods to only 17 for Windsor. Petaluma grabbed a 3-0 advantage after marching 67 yards in the early going. White connected on three passes including a 13-yard toss to wide out Harrison Royall to get the ball in position for a 37-yard field goal by Isiah Blomgren. Luke Wheless chipped in with a 21-yard run on a pitch play on the march.

Coach Tim Kirkpatrick’s Jaguars rallied to take a first-half advantage at 7-3, but Petaluma continued to control the ball on the ground with keepers by White and two pitches to Wheless.

Windsor had only one other opportunity to put points on the board when a Jaguar receiver got several furlongs behind a surprised Trojan secondary, but a looping pass from quarterback Max Brown fluttered through his hands.

After two game-changing touchdown drives by Windsor in the third quarter, the Trojans cobbled together an 80-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. White connected on four consecutive strikes to move the ball down the field highlighted by a 13-yard first down completion to Wheless.

Following a clutch first down conversion, White kept the ball on a fake dive and crossed the goal line from two yards out. The Trojans opted for a two-point conversion. but failed.

Wheless and Royal both stymied Windsor by picking off Jaguar passes deep in the Petaluma secondary.

The win marked the coaching debut of Kirkpatrick after a couple of decades of success at Healdsburg.

Junior running back David Escracega ran for 61 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Jaguars.

For more on the Petaluma-Windsor game, see Thursday’s Petaluma Argus-Courier.

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