St. Vincent wins NCS small-school showdown over St. Helena

St. Vincent held on to a tenuous first half lead to win a battle for North Coast Section rankings at St. Helena Friday night, defeating the host Saints, 14-13.

St. Vincent battled in front 14-7 in the first half and held on as the Saints scored the third quarter before the PAT attempt failed following a bad snap on a kick attempt. The win was the first for St. Vincent against St. Helena in the last nine meetings between the two.

St. Helena went into the game ranked No. 1 among North Coast Section Division 7 teams. St. Vincent was ranked No. 3.

“It was a great effort for us. We played with tremendous heart,” said St. Vincent Coach Trent Herzog.

The coach said the victory was a total team effort. “Everyone did their job,” he said. “They trusted our game plan and executed it. It was probably our best defensive effort since I’ve been here. St. Helena is a really, really good team.”

Things did not start well for St. Vincent. On the second offensive play of the game, Saints’ senior running back Ivan Robledo zipped 72 yards from scrimmage. After Rhen Bothof added the extra point, St. Helena led 7-0 less than a minute into the game.

It took the Mustangs a little longer, but they also scored in their first possession with Dante Antonini getting the touchdown on a 21-yard run.

It was the start of a huge game for Antonini who ran for 28 yards, completed the one pass he threw for 25 yards and was credited for 20 tackles, 15 solo and two for loss. “Dante played out of his mind,” said Herzog.

It was Antonini who, later in the first quarter, made a stop on a fourth-down play at the St. Vincent 9-yard line. The Mustangs then drove to the St. Helena 1 before being backed up and eventually missing a 23-yard field goal attempt.

What would ultimately stand as the decisive touchdown, came with 4:46 remaining in the second quarter on a 20-yard pass from Jaret Bosarge to Jake DeCarli. Kieran Pedersen, who had booted true following the first St. Vincent touchdown, did it again to tack on another crucial point.

St. Helena drove deep into Mustang territory late in the first half, but was stopped by a Malcom Rooks’ interception. It was one of three turnovers created by the Mustangs with Jake DeCarli snatching an interception and Rooks recovering a fumble.

The second half was a match of ball control and defense, finally coming down to a last defensive stop by Antonini, a time-consuming 4-plus minute Mustang drive and an Antonini punt that rolled down field as time expired.

St. Helena set up the exciting finish by scoring at the end of the third quarter on a 3-yard run by Harrison Ronayne.

A bad snap forced the Saints to try to run into the end zone, but the effort was stopped by Nathan and Rob Rooks.

Robledo finished with 136 rushing yards, but more than half the total came on his first carry.

Thirteen Mustangs contributed to the defensive effort, with Bosarge making 11 tackles, 4 solo, from his safety position. Freshman Rob Rooks, junior Cameron Vaughn and senior DeCarli each were in on nine stops as St. Vincent limited the Saints to 230 rushing yards with more than a third of that coming in one big gulp.

Nathan Rooks (7), Killian Collins (4) and Dominic Mintion (5) all contributed to the dominating defensive effort.

Offensively, Kai Hall rushed for 87 yards for the Mustangs while Bosarge was 8 of 12 passing for 138 yards.