Deep early hole swallows Gauchos

Casa Grande High School’s football Gauchos got into a Grand Canyon-deep early hole and couldn’t dig out Friday night, losing their season-opening game to Analy’s multi-talented Tigers, 48-29.

The Casa “home” game was played at Santa Rosa High School before a large crowd that was almost evenly divided between Casa and Analy fans.

Riding the talents of the dazzling pitch and catch duo of quarterback Jack Newman and wide receiver Schulyer Van Weel, Analy shocked the dazed Gauchos with four touchdowns in the season’s first quarter, jumping out to a 27-0 lead.

To the Gauchos’ credit, they withstood the storm and fought back.

The embattled Casa defense stiffened, shutting the Tigers out in the second period. An interception by Kaleo Garrigan, who converted by grabbing a 12-yard scoring pass from quarterback JJ Anderson, brought not only points, but a spark of life to the Gauchos, who still reached halftime training, 27-7.

An 18-yard touchdown interception return by Nic Petri, Garrigan’s second scoring catch of an Anderson pass, Brandon Keefer’s 29-yard field and a diving catch by Dulio Froes in the end zone of a 17-yard Anderson pass improbably pulled Casa Grande to within a touchdown of the lead, cutting the faltering Tigers’ lead to 34-29 with 11 minutes still to play.

But at that point, the Gauchos’ surge ran out of steam.

A pair of late-game interceptions, coupled with a touchdown runs by Newman and running back Osiris Zamora inflated the final score.

With their running game stymied by a blitzing Analy defense (Casa totaled just 15 ground yards), the Gauchos had to rely on Anderson’s passing. For the game, the senior completed 19 of 39 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions.

Analy also won the junior varsity game, 28-7.

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