Casa Grande falls in first playoff game

Casa Grande’s offense couldn’t get going in its second meeting of the season against league foe American Canyon, as the No. 6 Gauchos fell 34-7 on the road to the No. 3 Wolves in the first round of the North Coast Section Division 3 playoffs Friday night.

“Tough one, honestly,” Casa Grande head coach John Antonio said. “They had a great game plan, and I thought we had a good game plan too, but we struggled offensively a bit. The kids played their hearts out. It comes down to me preparing our team for what we’re about to see, the second time you’re seeing a team and you’re expecting what you expect them to do, but at the end of the day these losses come back on you as a coach, especially at this stage of the season.”

The Wolves (8-3) leapt out to a 21-0 lead in the first half before Casa Grande (6-5) JV call-up Danny Mercado tossed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Almond, who finished with nine catches for 145 yards, to make it 21-7 at halftime.

It was the only pass attempt of the night for Mercado, a sophomore who captained Casa’s 10-0 JV program this season, as he had subbed in briefly for senior Wyatt Abramson, who was out on the play with a minor injury.

Abramson returned and finished the night 16-for-41 passing for 199 yards.

“We could not run the ball against them,” Antonio said. “They did a good job. Their game plan was literally just to blitz us the whole night, play man, and that’s what they did.”

Defensively, Mercado had 10 tackles and Matt Reilly led the team with 15, while Oscar Koene added nine with a blocked PAT and Kodi Cornelius had eight with a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

“It’s not on the kids,” Antonio said. “They played their butts off, they did everything they could to try and put us in position to win, but at the end of the day, it’s just a tough one.”