Braves pick up gritty win over Bulldogs

By ANDY WILCOX
Register Sports Writer

SAN RAFAEL — Garrett Wright was stellar on punts for the Justin-Siena football team Friday night, keeping San Rafael pinned in its own territory with a pair of 44-yarders.

After the senior boomed his final punt 39 yards to get the Braves out of their own red zone late in the fourth quarter, he also showed he could return one.

Wright’s 42-yard punt return to the Bulldogs’ 25-yard line set up Justin-Siena’s winning drive as the Braves pulled out a thrilling 22-19 Marin County Athletic League victory over much-improved San Rafael.

Braves quarterback Kevin Reinell, meanwhile, showed he wasn’t daunted by his interceptions. After throwing his eighth and ninth picks of the season — one of which led to the Bulldogs’ final touchdown — the sophomore capped the winning drive on its third play by keeping the option and juking his way through San Rafael’s speedy defenders for a 20-yard touchdown with 3:19 remaining in the contest.

Reinell (5-for-11 passing for 50 yards) found Ryan Grazier with the two-point conversion pass for a 22-19 lead.

“Kevin’s touchdown was as gritty and determined as any play I’ve ever seen him make,” Justin-Siena coach Rich Cotruvo said.

San Rafael quarterback Max Van Soest — who finished 7-for-15 passing for 174 yards — overthrew speedy receiver Jaronimo Wright (three catches, 134 yards, two TDs) on the final drive.

On the next play, the Braves recovered the Bulldogs’ only fumble of the night at the Justin-Siena 34. Reinell knelt with the ball three times to run out the final 1:15, and the Braves improved to 2-0 in Marin County Athletic League play and 4-0 overall.

Along with Reinell’s interceptions, the Braves coughed up two fumbles. The first one led to Van Soest’s 64-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Wright, who easily outran the pursuit and gave the Bulldogs (0-2 MCAL, 0-4-1 overall) a 12-6 lead on the first play of the second quarter.

Justin-Siena — which had taken a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on Wright’s juking, 20-yard scoring run — retook the lead, 14-12, when Stephen Shafer bolted in from the 7 and Reinell completed the conversion pass to Chris Meyer with 4:56 left in the second quarter.

Vince Nola kept San Rafael from answering before halftime by picking off a Van Soest pass at the Braves’ goal line.

Wright gave the Bulldogs their final lead by catching a 34-yard TD pass, shortly after Reinell’s pass had been tipped by Meyer into the arms of San Rafael’s Gabe Feinberg near midfield.

The Bulldogs’ running backs seemed as fast as Wright. Derrick Jones had seven carries for 43 yards in the first half, including a 25-yard touchdown run, and Kenny Haynes shot 25 yards on the first play of the game.

But the Braves held both in check in the second half.

“Our defense gave up big plays, like (Jones’) trap up the middle, and big plays are like turnovers,” Cotruvo said after his team’s second three-point, come-from-behind victory in MCAL play. “But we have grit. We don’t give up when most teams would fold.”

San Rafael had lost 47-0 to Justin-Siena the year before. But under Mazi Moayed, their fourth head coach in as many seasons, the Bulldogs seem as exciting as any team in the league.

Moayed, who went to San Rafael after helping Novato earn the MCAL title in 2005 as its defensive coordinator, saw his team hold Justin-Siena to 198 total yards.

“San Rafael has to be complimented, and Mazi did a tremendous job preparing them for this game,” Cotruvo said. “He’s an outstanding coach.”

• Justin-Siena JV 44, San Rafael 0

Casey Tompkins had seven solo tackles, Jobie Maher added four solo tackles, Quin Stainier forced a fumble and recovered it, Curtis Sawyer had two sacks and Craig Cybulski snagged an interception as the Braves (2-0 MCAL, 4-0 overall) posted their third shutout in four tries.

Daniel Pardini had 11 carries for 97 yards, scoring on nine- and 24-yard runs, and Reid Francis ran for 82 yards in nine tries with a two-yard TD plunge. Marcus Solis was 4-for-4 passing with scoring tosses of 36 yards to Takayuki Masuda, 16 yards to Cybulski and one yard to Ed Hallahan.

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