By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
NOVATO – The Hornet offense got off to a sluggish start in Saturday’s Marin County Athletic League matchup with Justin-Siena, but the Novato defense came ready to play in a 30-0 win.
Novato managed just one touchdown by halftime against the 4-4 Braves and had one drive stopped at the goal line. But the defense began to produce turnovers in the second half and that proved to be the difference.
“Justin-Siena is a well-coached team and they always give us trouble,” said Novato coach Travis Brackett. “Our defense played a great game, especially the defensive line, and we got a couple of short fields that helped us get into the end zone.”
The win is the sixth in a row for the Hornets, whose games have been decidedly lopsided since losing their first two games of the season to Valley Christian and Foothill of Pleasanton. In fact, the 30-0 win Saturday was the closest margin of victory in Novato’s six wins. The Hornets, who played in the Division 2 CIF Bowl Game last year, are 5-0 in the MCAL – a half game ahead of Marin Catholic (4-0) which plays at Novato on Nov. 15.
It looked like Novato might score the game’s first touchdown midway through the second quarter. However quarterback Jeff Stephens was stopped on the one-foot line on fourth down by the middle of the Justin-Siena line.
On the first play following the change of possession, Braves’ quarterback Eddie Aguayo hit Kevin Reinell on a slant pass at the 10. Reinell eluded a defender, slipped out of the grasp of a second Novato player and was off to the races. Reinell finally lost his balance trying to change direction on a Hornet defender near midfield, falling down at the Novato 31 for a 68-yard gain.
The drive bogged down, however, and the two teams traded punts with Justin-Siena getting the ball back at midfield. Then came the first big break for the Hornets.
On first down, JT Peleki stripped the ball from Braves running back Marcus Solis at the 37. A 20-yard run by Ricardo Mendez set up a 13-yard scoring run by Mike Polvere with 1 minute, 25 seconds left in the half.
From that point, Novato scored on four of its next five second-half possessions. The Hornets opened the second half with a 64-yard drive that culminated in a 21-yard field goal by Mike Ghirardo.
A 25-yard punt return by Kyle Campas set up a two-play drive with Stephens hitting Polvere for 13 yards and Jake Davis for another 13 yards and the score with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
After pinning Justin-Siena deep in its own territory to start the fourth quarter, Novato took over at midfield. On first down from the 38, Stephens dropped back and felt some pressure from the Braves defensive line. He lofted a pass to Polvere over the middle, but the ball hung up in the air. Polvere made a good adjustment on the ball, broke a tackle and went the distance for the touchdown.
“We teach the receivers to come back to the ball if Jeff gets in trouble,” said Brackett. “They did a good job of that today, including on the touchdown.”
A fumble recovery by Joe Simmons at the Justin-Siena 18 set up a three-play drive that ended with Stephens throwing to Davis from 15 yards out with 3:41 left in the game.
The Braves had just 66 yards of offense in the second half, most of it on a final drive that ended with an interception by Novato’s John Roody Michaud near the goal line.
“We tried to use the short passing game today,” said Justin-Siena coach Rich Cotruvo, “But we just couldn’t run against their defensive line.”
The Braves managed only 44 rushing yards on the day.
Meanwhile Stephens completed 9 of 11 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns in the second half after starting the game 1-for-8 for 12 yards. He finished the day 10-for-19 for 143 yards. For the Braves, Aquayo completed 10 of 22 passes for 136 yards and two interceptions.