PREP FOOTBALL 2016: Trojans learn painful lessons in loss to Windsor

Life’s lessons can sometimes be painful.

Petaluma High School’s inexperienced Trojans learned much about varsity football life Friday night, and it hurt as they were schooled by Windsor’s impressive Jaguars, 42-7.

Although the final score was somewhat deceiving, it did accurately reflect the gulf between the two teams. Windsor was simply bigger, stronger and more experienced than Petaluma. That said, the score could have been closer had Petaluma not hurt its own cause with several youthful mistakes - mistakes that coach Rick Krist is convinced can be corrected.

“We have a lot of learning to do,” he said, “but we are going to get better.”

Although Petaluma never really had a chance to win the football game, played at Cardinal Newman High School after the Windsor turf was deemed unplayable mid-week, after Windsor scored the first two times it possessed the football, there were some optimistic signs for the Trojans.

Petaluma out-ran Windsor 213 yards to 192 on the ground. The trouble was that the Trojans had trouble sustaining drives, converting on only four of 13 third-down plays against the aggressive Windsor linebackers, while the Jaguars were able to score seemingly every time they approached the Petaluma goal.

Then there was the passing discrepancy. Petaluma connected on just three of eight throwing attempts, while the Jaguars’ Kobe Roman, in his first varsity quarterbacking assignment, hit 12 of 21 passes for 159 yards. Biggest hurt to the Trojans was applied by Windsor senior running back Jackson Baughman, who scored three touchdowns, including one on a 90-yard kickoff run.

The kickoff run-back came in the fourth quarter, right after Petaluma had scored its only touchdown of the evening. Baughman also scored on short runs of 2 and 8 yards in the first half as Windsor opened up a 28-0 intermission lead.

After blowing a shot at a touchdown in the third quarter on a botched pitchout after reaching the Windsor 4-yard line, Petaluma finally got its first touchdown of the season in the fourth period when Wolbert capped a 74-yard ground march with a 4-yard scoring effort. Jacob Rollistin, Dominic Christobal and Mitchell Baker all contributed to the scoring drive.

Rollistin had a big night for the Trojans, showing both an explosiveness and cutting ability as he rushed for 122 yards on just 12 carries. Justin Wolbert did a nice job both keeping his composure in the face of several charging Windsor behemoths, and also efficiently executing Petaluma’s triple-option offense.

Although Petaluma moved the ball well, the Trojans were never really in the game on the scoreboard. A 70-yard kickoff return started Windsor’s season at the Petaluma 27-yard line. Two plays later, David Escarsega scored from the 10-yard line.

After an impressive 11-play 4-plus-minute drive to start the Petaluma season expired on downs at the Windsor 39-yard line, the Jaguars marched right back to score on an 9-yard run by Baughman.

While Petaluma struggled to maintain offensive consistency, Windsor tacked on two more touchdowns to reach halftime with a 28-0 lead.

Led by defensive back Christobal, who not only defended the pass well, but was also strong in run support and linebacker Baker, the Trojans tightened their defense considerably in the second half, shutting the Jaguars out everywhere but on the scoreboard.

Both Windsor secondhalf scores were essentially gifts. One coming after a bad snap on a punt try gave the Jaguars ownership on the Trojan 10-yard line, and the other on Baughman’s rocket-like kickoff return.

Petaluma had two good scoring opportunities in the second half, but capitalized on only one.

The Trojans opened the half with a 59-yard drive featuring a 27-yard burst by Rollistin and two pass-interference calls. The march took the Petalumans to the Windsor 4-yard line, where they faced a fourth-and-one situation. After two plunges into the middle of the line, they decided on a wide pitch that seemed to catch the Jaguars by surprise. Unfortunately, the quarterback and running back failed to connect on the pitch and Petaluma turned the ball over on downs.

Later, the Trojans were finally rewarded for their grinding efforts, covering 74 yards in a drive that spanned the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth periods. Four different backs contributed to the march, with quarterback Wolbert doing the counting himself from the 4-yard line.

Like much that happened Friday night, Petaluma’s joy was short lived. Baughman returned the kickoff 90 yards to counter the Trojan score.

Petaluma now takes a needed week’s breather before showing its team to the home folks on Sept. 9 against Rodriguez from Fairfield.

Windsor won the junior varsity game, 49-21.