Egg Bowl worth the wait

Petaluma High held off Casa Grande, 20-14, to win the first Egg Bowl football game played since 2011.|

It was worth the wait.

Six years after Casa Grande and Petaluma high school last met in a varsity football game, they resumed the rivalry Saturday afternoon on Casa Grande’s sun-drenched synthetic turf. The result was a classic in both competitiveness and sportsmanship.

Spoiler alert: Petaluma won the game, now called the Community Egg Bowl, 20-14.

To call the score a footnote would be a disservice to the ecstasy felt by Petaluma players and their fans and the agony experienced by the Casa Grande players and their fans. Yet in reality, the score was less important than the process of getting it written in the archives.

Players on both sides of the Casa field proved winners, displaying an all-league quality of sportsmanship. There was only one personal foul flagged the entire game, and that was more than offset by an almost immediate apology for the unnecessarily strong tackle that brought about the flag. There wasn’t even a hint of the kind of animosity that led to the suspension of the game after an ugly contest in 2011.

Sportsmanship and competitiveness are two different animals and the latter ruled the turf from kickoff to final buzzer.

“We played with a lot of heart,” Casa Grande coach Denis Brunk said after his first experience coaching in the emotion that swirls around a Casa Grande-Petaluma confrontation. “It wasn’t from a lack of effort. We left it on the field. I couldn’t be prouder of my players.”

“They are great kids (on both teams) and both teams played hard,” agreed Petaluma coach Rick Krist, who well understands the significance of Petaluma vs. Casa Grande, having participated in the game both as a player and a coach.

What it finally all came down to was Casa Grande twice in the game’s final four minutes in Petaluma territory desperately throwing in pursuit of a different conclusion, and the Trojans weathering the aerial assault.

The first Casa Grande foray in those final heart-thumping minutes was short-circuited when Petaluma’s two-way standout Jacob Rollstin stepped in front of a Jance Offerman pass for an interception that halted the Gauchos at the Trojan 17-yard line with 2:54 left to deadline.

Still determined, the Casa Grande defense quickly forced Petaluma to run three plays and punt, giving the Gauchos possession at the Petaluma 45. A huge connection from Offerman to Jack Leonetti moved Casa to within striking distance at the Petaluma 19 with time now a Trojan ally.

As noise and tension shrouded the field, a short pass to Leonetti netted three yards, and it was all-in time. Erik Diaz broke up the first of three throws into the end zone and two others were just a step out of the reach of receivers. All that was left were two kneels onto the sizzling turf by Petaluma quarterback Justin Wolbert, and the Trojans celebrated.

The game leading up to those final frantic minutes was an evenly played game featuring momentum swings, big plays and missed opportunities on both sides.

Since it is still early in the season, there were multiple miscues, with turnovers, penalties and missed assignments on both sides of the football.

Early on, it looked like the Gauchos didn’t belong on the same turf with the Trojans.

On Casa Grande’s first Egg Bowl offensive play, the Gauchos fumbled to give the Trojans the ball at the Casa 14-yard line. Three Rollstin carries later, and the senior fullback was in the end zone, with the touchdown coming from 3 yards out.

On an afternoon when every point was an adventure, Isaiah Blomgren wobbled the conversion kick over the goal post for a 7-0 Trojan lead.

It got worse before it got better for the Gauchos. Toward the end of a Petaluma-dominated first quarter, Wolbert faked the entire stadium, including the Gauchos out of their shoes with a keeper and sprinted 36 yards for a touchdown. It was the most spectacular in a number of outstanding ball-handling maneuvers for the senior quarterback, who is a master in administering Petaluma’s option offense.

Blomgren’s extra-point kick hit the crossbar and twirled over to make the Petaluma lead 14-0.

Down by two touchdowns after just a quarter of play, it was gut-check time for the Gauchos. The result came back positive.

After the Wolbert score, the Trojans, as they always do, kicked off short and the Gauchos made them pay, riding the pitching arm of Offerman 55 yards in 11 plays, featuring key pass completions to Isaiah Cappelen, Dominic McHale and Kenneth Fitzgerald. It was Fitzgerald, behind a bulldozing block by 295-pound Matthew Hart, who got the touchdown from the 3-yard line.

Alex Sanchez produced the PAT kick, and Casa Grande was back in the ballgame.

Following the Gaucho score, Petaluma did what it does best, putting together an impressive ground-bound march to shove the Gauchos back from the Petaluma 43 to deep in their own country, but as the Trojans pushed into the red zone, they lost the ball on a fumble that was recovered by Casa’s Braeden Chadwick.

It was one of several Trojan drives stopped by sundry mistakes. “We have to do better sustaining our drives,” Krist said.

When the teams broke for a much-needed intermission, Petaluma, although leading by just a touchdown, still looked to be in control.

It was a different story in the second half.

Petaluma went into the game with a reputation as a ball-control team, but it was Casa Grande that put together the longest drive of the game, going 80 yards, primarily on Offerman passes, midway through the third quarter.

For a quick breath, it looked as though Petaluma had stopped the drive with an interception, but Offerman’s pass tipped off the sky-reaching fingertips of Petaluma defender Trey Davis and into the waiting arms of receiver Cappelen, who waltzed into the end zone. When Sanchez added the PAT, the game was tied 14-14.

Knocked back on their collective heels, the Trojans quickly regained their balance and answered drive for drive. Petaluma’s offensive line helped muscle the Trojans 66 yards, all on the ground, with Dominic Ayers and Justin Turner doing the carrying. Rollstin did the scoring from the 1-yard line.

Blomgren, under heavy pressure, duffed the PAT kick, leaving open the possibility of a Casa Grande victory with a touchdown, with Petaluma leading, 20-14.

That was that for the scoring, but not for either the tension or the effort.

With time an enemy, Casa Grande seemed to be badly wounded when Brandon Cota, desperately trying to keep a march moving on a third-and-1 play, tried to leap over a mass of helmeted humanity and the ball popped free into the Petaluma backfield, where it was claimed by the Trojans’ Erick Diaz.

That might have been a fatal dagger into the Gaucho heart, but one play later, Petaluma fumbled the ball right back to the Gauchos.

That brought things down to the final two Gaucho drives, two courageous Trojan stands and a mind-blowing finish to a game that will be long discussed and long remembered.

Ironically, the people who can least afford to remember the game, at least in the short term, are the players and coaches, who must quickly put it behind them and get on with their season.

Petaluma is now 4-0, while Casa Grande may be the best 0-3 team in the North Bay.

Both teams start league play against difficult opponents this week. Petaluma opens Sonoma County League play in Sebastopol against defending SCL champion Analy, while Casa Grande goes to Santa Rosa to play Cardinal Newman.

Casa Grande, on the passing arm of Offerman, out gained Petaluma, 314 yards to 281. The quarterback accounted for 191 yards on 15 completions in 31 attempts.

Fitzgerald, despite intense scrutiny by Petaluma defenders, still managed 77 yards on 16 carries.

Everyone, including the Casa Grande defense, knew Petaluma was going to run the football, but the Trojans, under the expert generalmanship of Wolbert, still racked up 221 rushing yards.

The Trojans, as they usually do, shared the ball-carrying duties. Wolbert carried 12 times for 74 yards, while Dominic Ayers gained 70 yards on eight carries, including a key 28-yard burst. Rollstin ran into the heart of the Casa line for 41 yards on 12 carries and Turner gained 35 yards on 10 carries.

There were standout defensive plays from both teams.

Casa Grande tried its best with one, two and sometimes more blockers, but could only slow Petaluma defensive end Luke Haggard, who led all tacklers with nine stops. His two-way line mate Xavier Crysdale was in on seven stops. Casa Grande’s 16 pass incompletions were the result not only of good work in the defensive backfield, but of the pressure on Offerman the Trojans were able to generate by Haggard, Crysdale and True Overton, allowing the linebackers to drop back to assist in pass defense.

Casa Grande’s defense was led by Leonetti, who was all over the field as both a run stopper and pass defender, while 255-pound front lineman Chadwick had much to do with the Gauchos limiting Rollstin’s between-tackle efforts.

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