Season ends for community ravaged by Tubbs wildfire
Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa’s compelling, storybook march through the high school football playoffs ended one step short of a North Coast Section championship.
The Cardinals led nearly the entire way, but Marin Catholic quarterback Spencer Petras led his team to a wild, entertaining 59-56 victory in Saturday night’s Division 3 title game.
Petras threw five touchdown passes as the Wildcats (12-0) earned their 12th section championship. Cardinal Newman (9-3) saw its season end after a spirited playoff run, less than two months after the devastating Tubbs Fire.
“It was one of those games
where we’re evenly matched and everybody’s all in,” Newman head coach Paul Cronin said afterward, as rain fell on the field at Rancho Cotate High in Rohnert Park. “Those games are awesome, win or lose.”
All night, Marin Catholic stayed prominently in Cardinal Newman’s rearview mirror. The teams traded touchdowns, steaming back and forth downfield with little resistance from either defense.
Finally, with 3:07 left, Marin Catholic took the lead for the first time on Anthony Marino’s 3-yard touchdown run. Petras connected with Peter Brown for the two-point conversion, pushing Marin Catholic ahead 59-56.
Then the Wildcats did a rare thing: They stopped Cardinal Newman to seal the victory. Marin Catholic now will advance to a Northern California regional playoff game.
“I just love this team,” wide receiver Ben Skinner said. “It was an amazing experience, and I’m just glad to be part of it.”
Asked about Petras, his quarterback, Skinner said, “He’s a stud, man. He rallies the troops and takes us to the victory.”
The game punctuated a tragic season for Cardinal Newman. Half the campus burned down when the Tubbs Fire roared through Santa Rosa on Oct. 9 — Newman students now attend classes in four parishes throughout the area, separated by grade level — and about 100 students, faculty, staff members and coaches lost their houses.
Football has since become a sanctuary and symbol of perseverance, as the school moves forward in the wake of the most destructive wildfire in California history.
That offered the real-life backdrop for Saturday night’s crazy game. All five possessions in the third quarter led to the end zone. Petras, a strongarmed 6-foot-5 senior, repeatedly picked apart Newman’s secondary; his counterpart, Beau Barrington, responded each time by leading the Cardinals downfield.
Cardinal Newman’s lead had shrunk to 49-45 as the fourth quarter began, but Barrington connected with Jason Moran for 47 yards on 4th-and-6. Barrington’s subsequent 1-yard touchdown pushed Cardinal Newman ahead 56-45.
Back came Petras and Marin Catholic, naturally. This time, Marino scored from 14 yards out to trim Newman’s lead to 56-51 (the two-point conversion attempt was short).
Cardinal Newman gave the large crowd an instant jolt on the opening kickoff. Mark Boschetti raced up the right side, used several good blocks, veered to the middle of the field and cruised into the end zone for a 99-yard touchdown.
Exactly 13 seconds into the game, Cardinals players hopped around their sideline in pure, unrestrained joy.
But there’s a reason Marin Catholic arrived with an unbeaten record. Petras guided the Wildcats back into the fray, narrowing their deficit to 14-10 late in the first quarter.
Back came Cardinal Newman and Petras’ counterpart, Barrington. He scrambled out of trouble on third down, then lobbed a jump ball toward wide receiver Chauncey LeBerthon, who leaped high and made the 17-yard touchdown catch, stretching the lead to 21-10 with 5:49 left before halftime.
That launched a distinct pattern of rampant offense, for both teams. Every time Petras and Marin Catholic pulled close, Barrington and Cardinal Newman quickly offered an emphatic response. In the end, the Cardinals came up one response short.
“I don’t feel like there was any defense,” said wide receiver Kyle Carinalli, who had a big game and who was one of five Cardinal Newman players to lose his family home in the fire. “It was offense vs. offense the entire game.”