Sports briefs: Marin Catholic posts shut out against Rancho Cotate
The Marin Catholic football team avoided the possibility of a trap game, blanking Rancho Cotate 30-0 on the road Friday night ahead of next week’s league-title clash against Cardinal Newman.
MC got off to a fast start, scoring 14 points in both of the first two quarters to take a 28-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. MC added a safety in the fourth quarter for the final margin. Stats were not available at press time.
The Wildcats (6-2, 3-0 Adobe) have allowed a total of 14 points over their past five games, including back-to-back shutouts against Vintage and Rancho Cotate (4-4, 0-3).
MC hosts undefeated Cardinal Newman (8-0, 3-0) at 2 p.m. next Saturday. The Wildcats and Cardinals — the top contenders in the newly formed Redwood Empire Adobe league — have faced each other four times in a row in a North Coast Section final. Cardinal Newman won in 2019 and Marin Catholic won in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The NCS championships were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cardinal Newman 31, San Marin 3
Cardinal Newman also did its part to set up next week’s big game against Marin Catholic, holding San Marin (6-2, 1-2 Adobe) under 100 yards of total offense on Friday night in Santa Rosa.
San Marin’s lone score came on a 29-yard field goal by Nate Mandelbrot with about a minute left in the first half that pulled the Mustangs within 7-3. Tino Retamoza, Cardinal Newman’s freshman phenom quarterback, threw a long touchdown pass to receiver Jonah Bertoli just before the half to push the lead to 14-3.
Retamoza threw second-half touchdowns to Zion Cargill and Bertoli as the Cardinals pulled away.
Piner 21, Terra Linda 14
Piner scored with less than a minute left on the clock to beat Terra Linda, 21-14, Friday night in Santa Rosa.
The Trojans (4-4, 1-3 Mountain) were frustrated by penalties early on, with two touchdowns called back in the first quarter. Trailing 7-0 after the first half, the Trojans finally got some points to stick on the board. Mateo Pattani scored a couple of long touchdowns in the second half as the Trojans and Prospectors (6-2, 3-1) went back and forth.
The Trojans are scheduled to host Sonoma Valley’s high-octane offense on Nov. 2
Sonoma Valley 35, Archie Williams 0
Sonoma Valley rolled up a 28-0 halftime lead and remained atop the Redwood Empire Mountain division with a win against Archie Williams. The Peregine Falcons (3-5, 1-2) will close the season likely needing wins over both Healdsburg and Piner to become playoff eligible.
Stuart Hall 40, Branson 34
The Branson School rallied from a 26-point halftime deficit, but the comeback bid fell short in a loss to undefeated Stuart Hall during an 8-man football rivalry in San Francisco on Friday night.
Colby Buxton scored three touchdowns for the Bulls (4-2, 2-1 North Central II) during a second-half rally. Buxton struck twice in the third quarter on runs of 28 and 7 yards as the Bulls rolled up 20 points. He added a 7-yard touchdown run with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Chase Hoeveler gave the Bulls the first touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run, but the Knights (7-0, 3-0) rattled off 32 points before halftime.
The Bulls are scheduled to visit Roseland University Prep on Nov. 2.
Girls tennis
Terra Linda got decisive wins from its No. 1 singles player and No. 1 doubles team to rally for a 4-3 win against Archie Williams in an MCAL play-in game on Friday.
TL’s top player, Kylie Lee, outlasted Archie Williams’ Maya Evans 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 at No. 1 singles. Leona Liskey and Sahaj Malik also needed to claim a third-set super tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles, pulling out a 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 win against Chloe Dupont and Amara Lee Watson.
TL’s other wins came from Jamie Schmidt at No. 2 singles and Mimi Kemp at No. 4 singles. The Peregrine Falcons got a victory from Amalya Rajparia at No. 3 singles.
TL (6-11) claims the No. 6 seed in next week’s MCAL playoffs and advances to face No. 3 Tam (12-4) on Tuesday. No. 5 Marin Catholic (8-8) takes on No. 4 San Marin in the other first-round matchup. No. 1 Redwood (16-0) and No. 2 Branson have first-round byes.