CASA GRANDE FOOTBALL: Peaks of hyper excitement, valleys of hurt

The Casa Grande High School football team played four of the most exciting games in recent school history this season and won all four. Unfortunately for the Gauchos, those were the only four games they won.

Compounding the Casa Grande problem as it played through a talent-loaded pre-league, then stepped into a North Bay League season that might have been even tougher, was a series of crippling injuries that at one time or another had as many as seven starters out with various hurts.

“We don’t make excuses,” said Casa Grande coach Trent Herzog. “Every team has injuries. They are part of football, but I have never seen so many severe injuries.”

Injuries were only a part of a season for Casa Grande that is best described as strange.

The high point were those four victories, every one achieved with a supreme comeback effort against good teams.

The first of those dramas unfolded in Casa Grande’s third game. The Gauchos had hardly been competitive in their first two games, losing to Napa, 36-0, and St. Bernard’s, 42-28.

Casa recorded its first win against San Marin, 24-22, scoring with just over a minute to play, then holding on as San Marin fought down the field before the Gaucho defense finally halted the drive short of field-goal range.

That electrifying victory did not kick off a winning streak, because Casa’s first two North Bay League games were against two of the best teams in the North Bay, Cardinal Newman (42-7 loss) and Rancho Cotate (41-9 loss).

The only close game that Casa Grande lost was at Ukiah where the Gauchos fell, 14-13.

Casa stopped its three-game losing streak by defeating Maria Carrillo in overtime in one of the most mind-boggling comebacks in the school’s storied football history.

The Gauchos trailed, 30-7, at the end of three quarters and had done very little right against a good Puma team. It looked like the fourth period would be played for practice.

Then, amazingly, as its fans went more than slightly insane, Casa Grande, led by the suddenly sun-hot passing of Garrett Buffo, streaked back into the game, tied the contest at the end of regulation on a 28-yard Brandon Keefer field goal, and won in overtime, 36-33, on a touchdown pass from Buffo to Trevor Naugle.

It was more of the same the very next week, when Casa Grande went 40 yards in the final minute, scored on a Buffo to Clay Smedshammer pass, and tacked on a two-point conversion on a Buffo to Mikey Morarity connection to beat Montgomery, 25-24.

When it looked like things couldn’t get any wilder, Casa Grande hosted Santa Rosa in the final regular-season game of the season with its playoff hopes on the line.

Casa Grande blew an early 21-7 lead and, led by two of its running wounded - quarterback Frank Gawronski and halfback Spencer Torkelson - staged its now familiar fourth-quarter rally.

The leg-injured Torkelson, who was only in uniform to participate in pre-game Senior Night festivities, charged into the game late in the fourth quarter to gain a big rushing first down and throw a halfback touchdown pass. Still, Santa Rosa led 33-31 with Casa Grande 72 yards from the goal with 45 seconds left. The Gauchos never made it all the way, but got close enough for Keefer to boot a 43-yard field goal that won the game, 34-33, and put Casa in the North Coast Section playoffs.

Casa Grande ran into a very good Redwood team in the first round of the playoffs and, after working so hard just to get into the post-season tournament, was beaten 56-14.

Through it all, through the tough games, the injuries and wildness, the Gauchos kept practicing and showed up for every game ready to play using whoever was available.

And, that means whichever quarterback was available. Buffo opened the season as the starting quarterback, but was hurt and replaced by Gawronski, who came in to lead the team to the win over San Marin.

Gawronski developed a sore arm, and it was Buffo who came on to lead the comeback wins over Maria Carrillo and Montomery.

When Buffo suffered concussion-like symptoms in a loss at Windsor, Casa Grande was forced to use sophomore Jadon Bosarge, recently brought up from the junior varsity, at quarterback.

Buffo was deemed out of action for the Santa Rosa game, so it was Gawronski who again stepped up to lead the miracle finish.

“I’m proud of both of them,” Herzog said of his quarterbacks. “They worked hard, learned our system and battled every time they were in the game. The team always supported them, no matter who was in the game.”

The quarterbacks had a talented group of receivers, led by Dulio Froes and Keefer, each with better than 500 receiving yards. Keefer caught seven touchdowns and Froes five.

Smedshammer and Naugle also had some big catches along the way.

Casa’s running back corps was the hardest hit by injuries. Torkelson, who was expected to be one of the best in the NBL, played in just seven of the team’s 11 games and was not at full speed in several of the games when he did play.

Sawyer Johnson, perhaps the fastest of the Casa backs, managed to play in all 11 games, but he, too, was slowed by injuries.

A bevy of backs stepped in to fill the void, although none played in all 11 games. Among those who contributed at times were fullback Michael Morarity, Jack Leonetti, Brandon Costa and Brian Kolodin, who was a mainstay toward the end of the season. No individual player had big numbers. Torkelson led the team with 349 rushing yards. But when it was all totaled up, Casa Grande had rushed for 1,522 yards with 14 players contributing to the total.

An intriguing prospect for next season is junior Kenneth Fitzgerald, who had to sit out all but the playoff game. In that one game, against a very good Redwood team, he rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The offensive line was also hit by injuries, although many were not noticeable simply because many of the Gaucho front linemen blocked hurt.

Jacob Voight anchored the line at center. His brother, Travis Voight, played alongside of him at guard. Both played hurt at different times. Sophomore Braeden Chadwick missed three games with injuries.

Among the most consistent of the Gaucho linemen were 315-pound Dylan Korte and reliable senior Tommy Luchese, who never missed a game.

Perhaps Casa’s most consistent offensive weapon was Keefer, who not only was Casa’s most reliable receiver, but one of the best kickers in the league. He was 19 of 20 in PAT tries and 8-of-8 in field goal attempts, including the 43-yarder to beat Santa Rosa and boot Casa into the playoffs. With his kicking and receiving scores combined, he accounted for 85 Casa points.

Defensively, Casa Grande gave up points to bigger and healthier opponents, but had some great moments in its four thrilling wins.

Travis Voight, who played inside linebacker, was the mainstay, leading the team in almost all defensive categories, including tackles (96), solo tackles (69), tackles for loss (nine) and sacks (five).

Until he was hurt, Torkelson was an equally effective linebacker, recording eight tackles for loss in just seven games, while being equally adept in pass defense.

Among other key defenders for Casa Grande were sack-master Morarity; linebacker Leoneti; defensive backs Froes and Mathew Kubes; and ends Kolodin and Billy Brown.

Herzog says that while several key seniors will be missed, things look good for Casa’s future.

“A lot of our key players were our juniors,” he points out. “We called up some of our junior varsity players late in the season and we had a very good freshman team.”

If the Gauchos can mix consistency with the excitement of the 2016 season, the future looks bright.