Prep football: Week 7 game preview capsules for all Marin teams

Almost all of the Redwood Empire action takes place outside the county this season with Marin Catholic the lone team playing at home.

Friday features some crucial battles as San Marin and Windsor both look to bounce back from tough losses in the Adobe league last week. The marquee game in the Mountain league features first-place Novato traveling to league favorite Sonoma Valley.

Friday

Novato (5-1, 3-0 Mountain, #62 in NCS) at Sonoma Valley (6-0, 2-0 – #22), 7 p.m., Sonoma

Novato’s defense has been stellar during the team’s five-game win streak but it faces by far its toughest test of the season against the Dragons. The Hornets sit in first place and face the favorites for the league title.

The Hornets have allowed 21 combined points in the past five weeks – a mark Sonoma Valley has eclipsed in every game – and a total of 42 points for the season. The Dragons have scored between 35 and 42 points in all six games.

Sonoma Valley’s combo of QB Dalan Lopata and WR Hudson Giarritta has been big all season. Lopata threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns – although he was intercepted three times – two weeks ago in a 42-7 win against San Rafael. Giarritta caught nine balls for 176 yards and three scores against the Bulldogs.

Novato RB John DeMartini is up to 782 rushing yards this season and is coming off a season-high 212 last week.

Redwood (3-4, 1-2 Valley – #39) at Napa (0-6, 0-2 – #94), 7 p.m., Napa

The Giants are in a good spot to snap their two-game losing streak when they face the lowest-ranked team in the league. The Grizzlies were shut out 49-0 by Casa Grande three weeks ago but Redwood suffered a similar fate, losing 34-0 at the hands of the Gauchos two weeks ago. Napa lost 56-35 against Petaluma last week. Redwood’s first league win came against Petaluma 31-14 on Sept. 27.

Both teams will need to be ready to defend the run this week. Napa’s backfield duo of Hector Nogales and Josue Victorino combined for 48 carries and 366 rushing yards last week. Nogales had 233 yards and scored four touchdowns. Redwood’s top offensive weapon has been RB Sean Cunneen, who has 651 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the season.

San Marin (5-1, 0-1 Adobe – #8) at Windsor (5-1, 0-1 – #11), 7 p.m., Windsor

Both teams come into this contest licking their wounds after losing close games against two of the top teams in the section – Marin Catholic and Cardinal Newman, respectively. San Marin was a mere 3 yards away from tying the score against MC in the third quarter before the Wildcats defense stiffened. MC came up with four stops inside the 5-yard line then embarked on a 90-yard scoring drive en route to the 21-7 victory.

Windsor gave visiting Cardinal Newman all it could handle, falling 24-23 in overtime. The Jaguars scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game then took the lead with a touchdown on the first possession of overtime. Windsor missed the point-after and the Cardinals made them pay on the ensuing drive.

The Jaguars run far more often than they pass, with 141 rushes against 65 passes through their first five games. RB Wyatt Morris (430 yards, 9 TDs) and WR Hayden Anderson (619 scrimmage yards, 10 total TDs) are the Jaguars’ top weapons.

San Rafael (4-2, 2-1 Mountain – #57) at Piner (4-2, 1-1 – #51), 7 p.m., Santa Rosa

Although new to each other as league opponents, the Bulldogs and Prospectors have a history having scheduled each other as non-league foes each of the past two seasons. Piner won the first meeting 31-28 in 2022 but San Rafael bounced back with a 7-0 victory in 2023.

San Rafael limited Piner QB Soso Prak to 10-of-23 passing for 127 yards with two interceptions last year. Prak has put together a strong junior campaign with 1,244 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. WRs Jaden Hernandez (538 yards, 8 TDs) and Apollo Periera (389 yards, 5 TDs) are his top targets.

San Rafael’s quarterback situation has been in flux most of the season. Joe Miller and Royston Lachlan split reps in the first few games before Miller took over as the starter. Miller missed some time due to injury and Royston played most of the game last week, completing 13 of 16 passes for 218 yards and four touchdowns. WRs Harper Corso and Dante Granziani combined for 10 catches, 208 yards, and five touchdowns.

Terra Linda (3-3, 0-2 Mountain – #85) at Healdsburg (3-4, 0-3 – #76), 7 p.m., Healdsburg

The Trojans head north in a game that pits the last two winless teams in the league against each other. TL got off to a promising start with a 3-1 mark during its non-league campaign but has struggled in league losses to former MCAL foes Archie Williams and Novato, falling by a combined score of 69-20.

Healdsburg, meanwhile, has lost to San Rafael, Novato and Piner in the past three weeks. The Greyhounds played San Rafael close, falling 18-13, but lost 22-0 against Novato and 56-21 against Piner. Healdsburg QB Nova Perrill II has thrown for 1,198 yards with a 15-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. WR Hayden Mariani has 473 yards and seven touchdowns.

Saturday

South Fork (0-4, 0-1) at Branson (3-1, 1-0 NCL II), 1 p.m., Ross

After defeating South Fork twice in 2022 – including once in the postseason – the Bulls were gashed by the Cubs last year in a 66-44 defeat. Almost all of that damage came on the ground, as South Fork ran for 429 yards and six touchdowns. South Fork hadn’t shown any signs of getting the ground game going this season until putting up 328 yards in a 44-42 loss to Roseland University Prep last week.

The Bulls lost their matchup to the Cubs last year despite 529 passing yards and five touchdowns from QB Thomas Lardner. The Bulls had three different receivers eclipse 100 yards in that game in James Stovell, Jaden Sher, and Callahan Greene. Stovell, the lone holdover of that trio, caught 10 passes for 224 yards and two scores against the Cubs.

Vintage (5-1, 1-0 – #22) at Marin Catholic (4-2, 1-0 Adobe – #6), 2 p.m., Kentfield

MC cleared its first of many big hurdles in league by taking down San Marin 21-7 last week. The task figures to be slightly easier this week as the Crushers are the second-lowest ranked team of the six Adobe teams.

Vintage leaned on its rushing attack in a 31-21 win against Rancho Cotate last week. RB Mason Howell ran for 100 yards and Bo Lode ran for 89 yards.

MC produced one of its better games on the ground against San Marin, with 83 yards from RB Jarred Geissberger and 61 more from QB Caedon Afsharipour.

Bye weeks

Tam (2-5, 2-1 Valley). Next game: Oct. 24 at Casa Grande.

Archie Williams (3-4, 1-2 Mountain). Next game: Oct. 25 at Sonoma Valley.