Braves Notes: Football star praises Justin community

By MARTY JAMES
Executive Sports Editor

All it took for Justin Clayton after a six-hour trip north along U.S. 101 to Ferndale last November was to take a look at the visiting bleachers.

“I remembered not seeing an empty seat on our side of the stadium,” said Clayton, a standout strong-side defensive end/outside linebacker for Justin-Siena High School, the 2008 CIF North Coast Section Division IV champion. “That was just the biggest thing to me, having a community out there that really cares about you and really wants you to succeed.

“That was a big, big deal for us, having people support us. There’s a great community around Justin-Siena football.”

Clayton’s comments came during last week’s Winetaster’s Cup Golf Classic, a benefit for Justin-Siena’s athletic programs. The 41st annual Winetaster’s featured guest speaker Dennis Richmond, who retired last year after 40 years as a news anchor at KTVU-Channel 2 in Oakland.

A dinner program was held in the Silverado Grove and the golf tournament was played the following day on the Silverado South Course.

Justin-Siena’s NCS title last fall — which came with playoff wins over St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo (34-19), Ferndale (22-15) and Salesian-Richmond (28-14) — was the fourth for Braves’ head coach Rich Cotruvo. The Braves went 9-4, winning their final five games of the year.

“The season we had, the championship we brought home to the new field, it was a really big deal to us,” said Clayton, a student speaker at the Winetaster’s. “It couldn’t have happened without the community and the support we got.”

Clayton will attend Washington State on a full-ride football scholarship in the fall. He was named as the Marin County Athletic League’s Linemen of the Year, Napa County Defensive Player of the Year, CalHiSports.com small schools first-team all-State, third-team all-Golden State by Scout.com, second-team all-Metro by the San Francisco Chronicle, and second-team California Division 3 all-State by MaxPreps.

“We had Justin in camp last summer and that was a telling point for us,” WSU head coach Paul Wulff said on the Cougars’ athletic Web side. “We saw some things there that would definitely help our program. He’s got a nice frame, is going to be big and strong, and play with a darn good motor. Again, another smart football player and we really like his motor.”

Clayton, a 2009 graduate, was rated No. 33 amongst Northern California recruits by Rivals.com. Scout.com also ranked him No. 10 among defensive tackles in the West.

Clayton drew a lot of positives from playing sports at Justin-Siena, a member of the Marin County Athletic League.

“The friends I made from playing sports and being a part of that was one of the biggest things I got from athletics,” he said.

Justin-Siena was just 4-4, but turned its season around following a 30-0 loss to Novato in Week 8.  They were the No. 4 seed in the eight-team playoffs and beat previously undefeated Ferndale, the top seed in Humboldt County. The semifinal win over Ferndale — a team that had aspirations of playing for a state championship — ranks as one of the all-time great victories in Justin-Siena football history.

All proceeds from the Winetaster’s tournament benefit Justin-Siena’s athletic programs. Justin-Siena is a Catholic college preparatory high school in Napa serving students from Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties. It is part of the worldwide network of schools sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

Seventy-two percent of Justin-Siena’s student body participates in athletics.

“That’s a very, very high number,” said Robert Jordan, the school’s incoming president. “We look forward to the growth of our athletic program.”

• Winetaster’s Cup results

Accurate drive — Wirt Cook.

Long drive — Heath Whittemore.

Closest-to-the-hole — (No. 3) 1. Steve Shifflett, 2. John Kowalski; (No. 7) 1. Paul Campbell, 2. George Edwan; (No. 17) 1. Mike Soldati, 2. Heath Whittemore.

Putting contest — 1. Greg Wessel, 2. Mike Fisher, 3. John Kowalski.

Best female player — Tiffany Captiville.

Low gross — Greg Kelley, Steve Schweizer, Heath Whittemore, Dave Jensen.

Low net — 1. Ed Farver, Pete Downs, Jim Cassayre, Neilson Rogers; 2. Paul Campbell, Gary McConn, John Kemp, Moe Elliott; 3. Mitch Bassignani, Steve Linder, Lou Hall, Mike Soldati.

Most honest team —  Tom Durante, Chad Meyer, Jim Cortese, Mark Leonardi.

• Girls basketball shines

The Justin-Siena girls basketball team had a very successful showing at the Saint Mary’s College team camp in Moraga, finishing 5-1 overall and winning the championship game, 57-52, over Sportstrong.

The Braves were 3-1 in pool play, defeating Nevada Union-Grass Valley, Alhambra-Martinez and Marin Catholic-Kentfield, and losing by two points to Livermore.

In bracket play, the Braves defeated College Park-Pleasant Hill to advance to the camp championship game.

“It was a very productive tourney for our kids to participate in,” said coach Mike Boles. “There were many quality teams competing and we learned a lot. It was a very positive experience.”

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