Mistakes comeback to haunt Justin-Siena in loss to Petaluma
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Losing on a last-second field goal is heartbreaking. Unfortunately, that was what happened to Justin-Siena on Friday night when they lost to Petaluma, 24-21.
The game was tied at 21 when Petaluma sophomore kicker Asher Levy sent a 24-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired to lock up the victory for the Trojans (5-0, 1-0 Vine Valley Athletic League).
In the end, the game came down to who could make the least amount of mistakes.
“We made too many mistakes,” Justin-Siena head coach Brandon LaRocco emphasized. “Lot of penalties that we had to overcome. We just made too many mistakes and didn’t do a good job defensively on reading our keys.”
However, before it came down to the final second field goal, Justin-Siena (2-3, 0-1 VVAL) had their own chance to win after recovering a fumble. On that drive, they lost 26 yards due to penalties and a bad snap.
“We got a lot of penalties,” LaRocco said of the potential game-winning drive. “I think we got that penalty and that hurt us. We put ourselves in a hole and then we had that fumbled snap, and then it’s like you can’t have a game-winning drive doing that type of stuff.”
Another thing that gave the Braves trouble was Petaluma’s veer running game. The Trojans ended up running for 159 yards, most of which came in the first half.
“I think we did more guessing than reading,” LaRocco said of the run defense. “When you guess instead of read, you miss, and when you miss you give up big runs. Kudos to them for running hard, but we’ve got to do a better job of bringing people down. We were there and then we missed a lot of tackles.”
The first score of the game came when Caden Parlett score from five yards out at the 7:48 mark of the first quarter. Later on, Parlett would score once more from 10 yards out with just 9:35 remaining in the game. He ended the night rushing 25 times for 169 yards on the night.
“He’s an absolute stud, and the kid he plays his heart out,” LaRocco said of his senior running back. “He pushes everything he has in every game to the point where sometimes he’s throwing up on the field.”
Heading into halftime, it looked like the Trojans had the momentum. But on the last play of the half, Zach Zurowski found Robby Sangiacomo for a 21-yard score as the clock expired.
“I was happy with the way we went into halftime,” LaRocco said of the score before the break. “That was a big play by Robby with no time left on the clock. I thought that was a momentum-swinger, but then we come out and give up a touchdown on the first series, and that’s how you lose momentum.”
Petaluma was able to tie the game up when Henry Ellis found Dawson Shaw for a 27-yard score with 4:18 left in the first quarter. Then, they took the lead in the first half when Ellis connected with Silas Pologeoris for a four-yard score with 10:10 left in the first half.
The Trojans’ lone touchdown of the second half came on an Ellis six-yard run with 8:07 left in the third quarter.
Both teams will continue VVAL play next Friday night on the road. Justin-Siena will visit Sonoma Valley and Petaluma will make a return trip to Napa when they visit Vintage.
In other VVAL action on Friday night, Casa Grande-Petaluma beat Vintage 46-44 and American Canyon beat Sonoma Valley 43-7. In the lone non-league game, Nevada Union-Grass Valley beat Napa 33-14.
