Justin-Siena finishes season strong thanks to Logwood’s strong ground game to beat Novato in season finale
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
You always want to end the season strong if you can. It sends the team into the offseason with momentum and leaves a good feeling because it’s hard to go out on a win.
On Friday night at Dodd Stadium, Justin-Siena was able to cap the season off with a win and send their 18 seniors into the sunset with an 18-13 non-league win over Novato.
With the win, Justin-Siena sends their massive group of 18 seniors on a winning note.
“I think these guys have been through a lot, a lot of ups and downs, just in their four years,” Justin-Siena head coach Tyler Streblow said of his strong group of seniors. “They’ve had a lot of things go against them, a lot of adversity. The thing I think I’m gonna remember about this group is just their ability to get back up. To be put in a league where everyone’s twice or three times your size.”
In his final game with the pads on, Logwood delivered. He carried the ball 18 times for 104 yards and a pair of scores. This continues a strong finish to the season after he also rushed for over 100 yards last week.
“He runs so hard,” Streblow said of the senior. “Part of the tough draw for us is on the skill positions, usually we can compete with everyone we play. The biggest The hardest part is the is the guys up front, just because we don’t have the physical size. So to run the ball between the tackles the way he did the last two weeks is just so impressive.”
Logwood first found the end zone from 7 yards out to put the Braves up 12-0 with 3:51 left in the first quarter.
The bruising back also got into the end zone with 9:32 left in the first half when he scored from 19 yards out on a run in between the tackles.
“It’s mainly my line,” Logwood said of the strong finish to the season. “We’ve been working real hard in practice last couple of weeks. Not making the playoffs, it’s kind of hard but we knew we had to just come out here and finish. That’s, that’s really all there was, just trust in my line, follow my blocks and just keep my feet moving.”
Justin-Siena (4-6) got the scoring going with an exciting hook-and-ladder reminiscent of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl when Drew Sangiacomo threw a dart to Luke Ficeli over the middle for 12 yards before then pitching to Tommy Malloy for a 41-yard touchdown just a minute into the game.
That trick type of play was on full display on Friday as the Braves used Malloy for a double pass in the game, too.
Speaking of Malloy, he, too, went out with a bang in his final football game, catching 10 passes for 180 yards. Having already broken the school record, he eclipsed 85 receptions for the season.
“He absolutely blew me away last year,” Streblow explained of Malloy’s importance to the team. “He played so well we had to start him both ways. He made a lot of great catches. He can play running back, he can play wide receiver, he was a kick returner. He was kind of our do-it-all guy. We tried to move him around as much as we could because he’s just that dangerous.”
Novato (5-5) stayed in the game largely due to senior wide receiver Tyler Smith, who hauled in both scores. The first came with 11:51 left in the first half when Trevor Cleary found him for a 28-yard scoring connection.
The Hornets’ final score came when Dominic Scafani found Smith for a 21-yard score with just 7:43 remaining to play. That drive came after a bad snap led to a long loss and then a bad punt to set up a shirt field.
In the game, Smith hauled in 3 catches for 56 yards. Other than that, the Braves were very solid all night on defense. The Braves also forced a turnover in the game.
“I think we had some mistakes there offensively that kept them in the game,” Streblow said. “Our defense was just really, really good all night. We really just buckled down against the run.”
