PREP FOOTBALL 2016: Injuries mount as Casa Grande thumped by Windsor

The injuries continued to mount for Casa Grande’s football Gauchos, but the biggest hurt last Friday night in Windsor was to their pride in a 48-14 loss to the home-standing Jaguars.

Already battered by a variety of hurts that had six starters or near starters on the inactive list, the Gauchos lost both starting quarterback Garrett Buffo and defensive standout Billy Brown to injuries in the first half.

Still, coming off surprising late-game wins over Maria Carrillo and Montgomery, the Gauchos had legitimate reason for optimism against the now 6-3 Jaguars.

That optimism faded as the gloomy, drippy night wore on.

“We didn’t play very well,” acknowledged Casa coach Trent Herzog. “We didn’t play disciplined.”

The loss almost assured Windsor, now 3-3 against North Bay League teams and 6-3 overall a North Coast Section Division 2 spot, while the loss left the Gauchos tenuous with 3-6 overall and 2-4 NBL records.

Friday’s affair, conducted on Windsor’s frayed synthetic turf, got off to a wild start.

On Windsor’s first play from scrimmage, quarterback Kobe Roman took off running and didn’t stop until he reached the end zone 58 yards away. Olin Poitter’s PAT boot gave Windsor a 7-0 lead with the game just 19 seconds old.

It took Casa Grande twice as many plays as Windsor (two) to tie the game. Buffo passed to Clay Smedshammer for 11 yards, and then to Brandon Keefer for 68 yards for the touchdown. Keefer had enough energy after running a nearly 70-yard sprint to boot the extra point and tie the game at 7-7 just two minutes into the contest.

After that, both the night and the play got sloppy as Windsor began to assert its dominance up front and showcase its speed.

Before that half ended, the Jaguars had scored on a 68-yard pass from Roman to Patrick Tapppin, two runs by Jackson Baughman of three and 20 yards and a textbook fade pass of 10 yards from Roman to Jorgen Sarganis.

Meanwhile, bad things were happening to the Gauchos. The worst occurred early in the second quarter when Buffo went down and out with concussion-like symptoms. Although trailing, 21-7, Casa, with the aid of a roughing-the-kicker penalty, was driving and had moved inside the Windsor 40-yard line when the quarterback was hurt.

With Buffo’s fellow senior Frank Gawronski limited to punting duties because of an arm hurt he has been dealing with for the last two games, the ball was handed to sophomore Jadon Bosarge, who had been pulled up from the junior varsity team just three games earlier, and had only one brief prior experience in a varsity contest.

Bosarge managed to get the Gauchos to the 11-yard line before a fumble halted the march. The sophomore spent the rest of the half facing a furious Windsor pass rush as the Gauchos tried vainly to pass their way back into the game.

By the half, the score was 35-7, and quickly grew when the Jaguars’ first play from scrimmage in the second half was a 72-yard touchdown hook up between Roman and Baughman.

Bosarge quarterbacked Casa’s first two series of the second half before the Gauchos called on the sore-winged, but experienced, Gawronski, and he led them on a satisfying 83-yard march for a final touchdown. Big play was a 52-yard pass connection to Keefer. The touchdown was a 4-yarder to Keefer, who added the PAT kick to account for all the Casa points on the gloomy night.

Windsor had 491 yards with 355 coming on the ground. Baughman rushed for 153 yards, Roman for 101.

Casa’s 309 total yards came mainly through the air, with three quarterbacks combining for 208 yards. Buffo was 6-of-12 for 116 yards in the first half. Bosarge hit on 6-of-12 attempts for 35 yards and Gawronski was 2-of-4 for 58 yards.

Linebacker Travis Voight stood strongly in the face of the Windsor assault with 10 tackles and two sacks. Gawronski was also all over the field with eight tackles, six solo, and two for loss.