Analy scores early, holds off Gauchos

Casa Grande High School’s football Gauchos survived an early Analy explosion, only to be bombed again as they were beginning to dig out from the rubble of an ugly first quarter.

Playing on a borrowed home field at Santa Rosa High school, the Gauchos lost their season-starting game to Analy’s multi-talented Tigers, 48-29, on Friday night.

Almost before they realized the season had started, the Gauchos found themselves four touchdowns behind the flying Tigers.

To their credit, the Gauchos somehow regrouped and fought back. With most of the fourth quarter still to play, Casa had shocked Analy to pull to within less than a touchdown, closing the deficit to 34-29.

The Gauchos never got closer.

Given a wake-up call, the Tiger speed again became dominant, and the defending Sonoma County League champions won running away.

“We came out flat, and they made some big plays,” noted Casa Grande coach Trent Herzog. “We didn’t cover deep. We made some adjustments and got into a different defense and we executed better.

“At the end, I think we ran out of gas. There were a lot of positives to take from this. I was proud of the kids. They didn’t quit.”

Casa Grande actually looked good early, with JJ Anderson hitting Nic Petri for a 16-yard first down on the season’s first play. The Gauchos recorded another first down before their initial drive stalled at midfield.

After the good beginning, things went downhill for Casa Grande with the speed and force of an avalanche.

In rapid succession, Analy quarterback Jack Newman threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Schylyer Van Weel right through the hands of a Casa defender; Van Weel slipped behind the Casa defense for a 58-yard touchdown catch of a Newman pass; Van Weel worked the middle of the field for a 30-yard scoring reception; and Kyle Johnson caught a short (4-yard) scoring shot from Newman.

With the season not a quarter old, Casa Grande trailed, 27-0.

Meanwhile, the Casa Grande offense spent the season’s first period testing the punting leg of Holton Johnson, who five times booted the ball after short, unsuccessful Casa offensive efforts.

When things looked the bleakest, senior Kaleo Garrigan, expected to be one of Casa Grande’s big-play producers, brought a ray of light through the gloom.

He stepped in front of a Newman pass at about the Casa Grande 36 and lugged the interception all the way back to the Analy 32. Anderson completions to Max Cerini and Petri moved the Gauchos inside the red zone and Garrigan supplied the touchdown on a 12-yard diving catch of an Anderson pass.

It wasn’t a lot, but it was a touchdown, and it gave the Gauchos something positive to discuss at the halftime, although they still faced a 27-7 problem.

What a difference a half makes.

Although there were some blips along the way, Casa Grande astonished the Tigers by taking control in the third period.

Petri pulled off a pick-six by swiping a Newman pass and taking it about 18 yards for a second Casa score.

That Gaucho joy was very fleeting. Van Weel brought the ensuing kickoff back 92 yards right through the porous Casa Grande defense for a score that kept the Tiger lead at a substantial 21 points.

Again the Gauchos fought back.

A well-executed halfback pass from Johnson, who heaved the ball about as far as he could heave it to Dulio Fores, gobbled up 53 yards and set up a second Anderson-to-Garrigan scoring pass, this one for 13 yards.

On Analy’s next possession, Jensen put a lick on Newman that separated him from the football. The fumble was claimed by Sawyer Johnson at the Analy 14-yard line. That, in turn, resulted in a 29-yard Brandon Keefer field goal.

And, the Gauchos kept charging.

Analy, which was plagued with penalties the entire game, was flagged for interfering with a Casa fair catch of a punt early in the fourth period, giving the Gauchos ownership at their own 48-yard line.

From there, it took six plays to get into the end zone. The drive actually had only three productive plays, a 15-yard hit from Anderson to Spencer Torkelson, an 18-yard Anderson connection to Garrigan and a 17-yard scoring strike from Anderson to Froes, who made a diving snare in the end zone.

Shockingly, Casa Grande was within a touchdown of taking the lead.

It didn’t happen.

Two late-game interceptions helped Analy to a pair of game-closing touchdowns and nullified the Gauchos’ stirring comeback, although it is something to build on as the season progresses.

For the most part, Casa Grande’s inexperienced offensive line was befuddled by the blitzing Tigers, who seemingly shot linebackers from all corners of the field. As a result the Gauchos never established any sort of ground game, totaling just 15 yards in 27 carries.

Anderson, once he settled in, had a decent first game against one of the best defenses he will face this season, completing 18 of 38 passes for 205 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Garrigan had an exceptional game. In addition to his momentum-changing interception, he caught four passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, he faired well against the super-quick Analy receivers and made six tackles.

Petri also had an exceptional opening game, grabbing five passes for 86 yards on offense and making seven tackles on defense.

Torkelson and Nick Jensen each had six tackles and Alec Burdette and Andrew Floerke five each.

Analy won the junior varsity game, 28-7.