Egg Bowl worth the wait
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.
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