Football: Las Lomas Can't Overcome Mistakes in Loss to Marin Catholic

Marin Catholic 20, Las Lomas 8

The Star:  Dominic Petrini, Marin Catholic. Petrini's 93 yard return of the opening kickoff of the second half turned the game around for the Wildcats. Petrini also had 83 yards on 12 carries and four receptions for 37 yards in the game.

The Turning Point:  Down 8-7 at halftime despite controlling the ball for most of the opening 24 minutes, Marin Catholic took the opening kickoff of the second half. Petrini scooped up the ball at the seven and kept running all the way to the end zone for a 13-8 lead the Wildcats would never relinquish.

The Quote: "You guys are worse than the Raiders," a young fan in the stands after yet another Marin Catholic penalty in the second half.

What's next?  College Park at home on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.

Bottom Line:  The game was there for the taking for Las Lomas, but too many errors on special teams and too many sacks allowed by the offensive line doomed any hopes of a comeback for the Knights.

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Marin Catholic had dominated the first half action on Friday at Las Lomas High. But when the Wildcats walked off the field at the break they trailed the Knights 8-7.

So when Wildcats senior Dominic Petrini scooped up the opening kick of the second half at his own seven yard line and saw the Las Lomas special teams unit part like the proverbial Red Sea, he led his team to the promised land.

Petrini's 93-yard sprint completely turned the game around as Marin Catholic downed the Knights 20-8 to remain unbeaten on the season while sending Las Lomas to a 1-1 record.

"We had a return left set up and it worked perfectly," Petrini said of the key play. "Our guys blocked it right and when I saw the defense part I just ran through the hole."

Knights coach Doug Longero could only watch helplessly on the sideline as Petrini dashed for the go-ahead score.

"It killed us," Longero said. "Our special teams did not do the job tonight."

In addition to the devastating return the Knights fumbled away a punt return and had a good return called back on a penalty.

"That is a good football team over there," Longero said. "We did some good things tonight, but we just made too many mistakes."

Of the things that went well for the Knights on Friday, running back Marquis Waters topped the list. Waters, coming off a 171-yard effort last week against Vintage, pounded his way through the Marin defense for 175 yards on 23 carries. Waters also accounted for the lone Knights' score of the night, a three-yard plunge with 11 minutes left in the first half and Las Lomas trailing by seven.

After Waters' score, the extra point was blocked. But a penalty on the Wildcats gave the Knights a second chance, one they decided to use to try for a two-point conversion. Another Waters plunge across the goal line made it 8-7 and a late stand by the defense made the score hold up at the break.

Marin Catholic had taken the lead with 3:05 left in the first quarter on an 11-yard pass from Christopher Tewhill to Daniel Woodcock and had controlled the tempo of the opening half despite the result on the scoreboard.

Tewhill tacked on another touchdown pass, this one a 31-yard hookup with Tyler Scott with 4:50 left in the third for the final score of the game.

Las Lomas mounted one last drive in the fourth, but quarterback Jackson Miller was sacked four times and hurried on several other plays as Las Lomas was forced to abandon Waters, who only had 54 yards rushing in the second half. The Knights last-gasp effort fell harmlessly to the ground with two minutes left as Miller's final pass attempt of the game was incomplete.

"We moved the ball well," Longero said. "We ran it well, we made too many mistakes. We're heading in the right direction, we just have to build off of this for next week."

The Knights (1-1) will host College Park next week.

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Marin Catholic 20, Las Lomas 8

Marin Catholic  7 0 13 0 — 20

Las Lomas  0 8 0 0 — 8

Scoring summary

3:08, 1st: Daniel Woodcock 11 yard pass from Christopher Tewhill (Greg Brewer kick)

11:15, 2nd: Marquis Waters 3 run (Water runs)

11:46, 3rd: Dominic Petrini 93 kickoff return (pass failed)

4:50, 3rd: Tyler Scott 31 pass from Tewhill (Brewer kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing (car-yards): MC – Petrini 12-83, Tewhill 12-37, Tyler Scott 1-3, Daimone Parker 1- (-)1, Jared Goff 1- (-)8;  LL — Waters 23-175, Ardell Romez 3-6, Danny Smith 1-2, Jake Villa 1-1, Jackson Miller 7- (-)35, 

Passing (comp-att-yards-ints): MC – Tewhill 13-16-153-0, Goff 0-1-0-0; LL — Miller 7-15-96-0, Waters 1-1-18-0. 

Receiving (rec-yards): MC – Tyler Scott 6-83, Petrini 4-37, Daniel Woodcock 4-37, Parker 1 (-)1; LL — Kevin Merhoff 4-79-0, Robert Ow 2-21-0, Waters 1-9-0, Romez 1-7-0.

Team offense (rush-pass-total)

Marin Catholic — 114-153-267

Las Lomas — 149-114-253

Fumbles/lost: MC – 0/0; LL —3/1.

Records: Marin Catholic 2-0, Las Lomas 1-1

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