PREP FOOTBALL 2016: Petaluma records its third straight shutout win

Petaluma continued a late-season football surge by pounding the Healdsburg Greyhounds, 53-0, on a damp natural surface at Recreation Park on Friday.

Again, it was a very stingy defense that led the way after the Trojans had posted a couple of Sonoma County League shutouts going into the contest. The third whitewashing was even more impressive as the home-standing Hounds were never able to threaten.

“I have been very happy with the play of our defense up front,” said Petaluma coach Rick Krist. “Justen Santa, Xavier Crysdale, Nick Dooley, Luke Haggard, True Overton, Michael Baribault and Nick Siembieda have all been part of our rotation.”

Crysdale, a junior, had an outstanding outing as he and his teammates put constant pressure on Healdsburg quarterback Levi Leley, who was hurried into many wild throws in the flat area.

The Trojans have a solid future defensively. Santa is the only senior player in the rapidly improving group, and Siembieda is just a sophomore. Santa bulled his way into the Healdsburg backfield all night.

The only Greyhound play that caused early concern was a double pass to a wide-open Leley downfield, but it was not caught, and the officials ruled the second pass illegal.

Petaluma scored on every first-half possession to take control of the game from the opening series. The Trojans rushed for 186 yards prior to intermission, and they got short field advantage on three forced turnovers.

Pass interceptions by transfer Trey Davis and Jacob Rollstin helped Petaluma bolt to a 33-0 advantage at intermission. Rollstin returned his theft 24 yards down the right sideline. The Trojans were also able to set up on a short field with a fumble recovery.

The Trojans carved out big chunks of yardage by running backs Conner Richardson, Dominic Christobal and Rollstin, and quarterback Justin Wolbert. Richardson got the scoring started with a bolt of 21 yards up the middle, taking it to the house untouched.

The versatile Christobal had a team-leading 576 all-purpose yards on offense going into the game and added a 20-yard touchdown gallop in the second half.

As the game progressed, Petaluma was able to tack on additional passing yardage to move the ball at will.

Wolbert had a solid night under center for the Trojans, scoring three running touchdowns of 7, 3 and 9 yards. He additionally completed all five of his tosses, including a 21-yard strike to receiver Hayden Fehler for a touchdown.

Wolbert was lifted in favor of Marcanthony Velasquez in the third quarter after Petaluma tallied again on a 71-yard drive.

With an uninterrupted clock in the final quarter, the Trojans still managed to score on the ground with a 70-yard run by Justin Turner, who got to the edge on the right side and outdistanced the Hound secondary the rest of the way.

Wolbert was perfect in five limited attempts for 99 yards while rushing for 47 more. Season-long workhorse Richardson finished with 70 yards on the ground on 10 tries.

Place-kicker Thomas De Jong converted on five PAT boots, and narrowly missed a 42-yard field-goal attempt at the end of the first half.

At the finish of the contest, Healdsburg was finally able to move the ball with dynamic 135-pound halfback Dominic Montinez running for several first downs.

The victory for the Trojans, together with a forfeit win against Rodriguez of Fairfield, gives Petaluma a winning 4-3 overall record. The Trojans are 3-1 in the Sonoma County League. The Hounds slipped to 4-3 for the season.

Healdsburg does not field a junior varsity team, and it turned out to be a late-arriving crowd under threatening skies.