The rematch figures to be closer
All agreed it was much more than a high school football game.
Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park’s 41-28 nonleague victory Monday night over visiting Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa still carried a lot of postseason significance as well.
There aren’t two better teams north of Marin Catholic-Kentfield and they agreed to play more for cathartic reasons than competitive ones.
The Wine Country wildfires wreaked havoc on lives and football schedules, leaving the two Northern California powers little choice but to schedule a meeting they will repeat Nov. 4 at Santa Rosa Junior College.
Monday’s game, which featured 228 yards passing and two touchdown passes from Metro Player of the Year frontrunner Jake Simmons of Rancho, does not count toward the North Bay League standings.
The game in two weeks will decide the NBL championship and an automatic North Coast Section berth. Rancho Cotate, ranked 12th by The Chronicle, improved to 7-0. No. 14 Cardinal ewman dropped to 5-2.
Rancho Cotate coach Gehrig Hotaling told Harold Abend of Prep2Prep.com that neither Cardinal Newman coach Paul Cronin nor Hotaling “showed our whole hand, but I still thought it would a little closer. I’m sure the next one will be.”
The teams traded touchdowns early — Rancho’s Ryan Matteri (12 carries, 100 yards) with a 20-yard touchdown run and Newman quarterback Beau Barrington with a 1-yard plunge — before Rancho scored 17 straight points to take control.
Simmons threw TD passes of 21 yards to Jaelen Ward (six catches, 62 yards) and 23 yards to Logan Reese (7-112), and Connor Barbato added the play of the game, a 60-yard interception return for a score. Barbato also had a fumble recovery, two sacks, 10 tackles and two pass deflections.
Matteri finished off the Rancho scoring with a 30-yard TD run, making it 41-21.
Newman, which got a big effort from Barrington (21for-33, 243 yards; 50 yards rushing, two TDs total) and Tanner Mendoza (17 carries, 122 yards, TD), got the final touchdown on a 93-yard kickoff return by Mark Boschetti.
When asked if he was still glad he took the game, Cronin told Abend: “Oh, yes. We knew it would be tough, but this is the best thing for us.” Record-setter: Oregon Statebound quarterback Spencer Petras continued his remarkable senior season by breaking his own Marin Catholic school record with 412 yards passing in a 55-6 win over RedwoodLarkspur on Saturday.
Petras completed 22 of 35 passes, including four for touchdowns. In seven games — Marin Catholic had two canceled — the 6-foot-5, 220pounder has completed 112 of 158 (71 percent) for 2,175 yards, with 26 touchdowns and one interception.
His previous record was 374 yards against St. Ignatius in Week 2. Marin Catholic (7-0), ranked 11th, has a bye this week before hosting JustinSiena-Napa (2-4) on Nov. 4. More stats: Roman Stein (Fremont-Sunnyvale) has 2,197 passing yards, with 25 TDs and eight interceptions through seven games. Simmons has 2,187, 26 and four, respectively.
The Metro Area’s top three rushers, according to MaxPreps stats, are HeritageBrentwood senior Aidan Quinn (137 attempts, 1,350 yards, 12 touchdowns), Hillsdale-San Mateo senior Nick Hulman (151, 1,199, 17) and Miramonte-Orinda senior Peter Stehr (116, 1,136, 14).