Prep football: Season preview capsules for all Marin teams

 

The Marin County Athletic League is history, with the former members joining teams from the North Bay and Vine Valley leagues to form a super league — the Redwood Empire League, which is broken into four divisions to promote parity. Will this make the road to the championships more difficult for 2021 and 2023 State titleholder Marin Catholic, or 2021 and 2022 State winner San Marin? Will the new league open a new path to victory for some of Marin’s other teams? These are the questions that will be answered during a season of historic change.

Archie Williams

It’s a new season and a new opportunity for the Peregrine Falcons, who are coming back from a difficult 2-8 campaign in 2023.

Archie Williams running back Jameson Wells missed much of last season after suffering an injury in an opening 42-7 loss against Salesian College Prep. Wells returned midseason and scored three touchdowns against Novato in the final game of the year.

Head coach Anthony Jackson is hopeful the Falcons’ big offensive line can help Wells gain some big yardage.

Junior Ronan Foley has impressed Jackson as he steps into the starting quarterback position.

“He has a good command of the offense,” Jackson said of Foley. “He’s a dynamic threat. He is one of the fastest kids on the track team and he’s an overall leader on the squad.”

With size at the receiver position, and big 6-foot, 4-inch tight end Isaac Pierce, Jackson believes the Falcons can be more physical and more competitive this year.

The Falcons will get their first test on Saturday when Kennedy of Richmond comes to town.

Branson

Tom Lardner, Mo Jacoby, Peter Hudson James Stovell, Julian Barnes and Esteban Preciado are among the Bulls senior core who will be ending their four-year tour with Branson this season.

Lardner, a beast when he’s on the run, is equally powerful in the pocket as he threw for 31 touchdowns and ran for another 10 last season. With Jacoby and Stovell, they are a challenge for any team to contain.

Hudson, Preciado and Barnes with Jacoby and senior Jack Castonguay help anchor an aggressive defense with a reputation for forcing opponents to make costly mistakes.

Branson, a perennial 8-man title contender in the North Central II, finished third last season behind Stuart Hall and South Fork.

The Bulls have an extra week to prepare for this season before opening against Priory on Sept. 7 at home, followed by a road game against Fresno Christian and a home contest against Tulelake. Branson begins its quest for the league crown on Oct. 10 against John Swett.

Marin Catholic

Marin Catholic reached the pinnacle last year with a victory in the CIF 3-A State championship game. The Wildcats are charting a new path to the top this year as they prepare for their title defense, beginning Saturday against Inderkum.

The Wildcats bid adieu to a star-studded senior class, including running back Charles Williams — who is now at the University of Wyoming — tackle Mario Crocitto, safety Greer Arthur, and quarterback Peter Macaulay.

Marin Catholic’s offense is already reloaded with junior Caedon Afsharipour, who started dyring the regular season last year, as well as senior receivers Braiden Bachich-Dixon and Kelly Storms. Marin Catholic outscored opponents 554-124 last season thanks to a stingy defense that is about as strong as ever. The Wildcats registered 102 tackles, 24.5 sacks and 12 interceptions during a 14-1 run last season.

Novato

Entering the new Redwood Empire superleague brings new challenges for all the teams involved. Novato High head coach Joseph Simmons sees new opportunities for the Hornets, who finished 3-7 playing an independent schedule last season.

“We’re super-excited to be in this new league. It’s anybody’s game,” Simmons said. “There will be competitive games every week and every week we have got a shot at winning the league.”

Playing in the Redwood Empire’s Mountain League, the Hornets won’t play crosstown rival San Marin or MCAL juggernaut Marin Catholic. However, Novato will continue traditional Marin County rivalries with Archie Williams, San Rafael and Terra Linda, while adding Healdsburg, Piner and Sonoma Valley to a mix that focuses on parity.

“We’ve been competitive with San Rafael, although they’ve had our number the last couple years. But that’s a competitive rivalry,” Simmons said. “Archie Williams, we played them tough in the first half of last season’s game and then it got away from us in the second half. We didn’t play Terra Linda last year, so it’ll be nice to play them again.”

Dom Scafani carried much of the load at quarterback last season, but the emergence of passer Trevor Cleary allows Simmons to move the speedy Scafani to free safety more often to bolster the defense.

The Hornets open this season under the lights Friday at San Marin High against Washington of Fremont, an aggressive offensive team that beat the Hornets, 35-29, last season.

Redwood

The Giants bring size and experience into the new Redwood Empire Valley League, with 6-foot, 5-inch senior quarterback Kody Vasquez leading the charge, along with senior running back Sean Cunneen.

The Giants finished fourth (3-3 league, 7-4 overall) in the final season of MCAL play, and lost to Heritage, 35-8, in the first round of the NCS Division II playoffs. The only Marin team still on the Giants’ schedule this season is traditional rival Tam, in a Oct.10 matchup in Larkspur.

San Marin

San Marin’s future looks to be in good hands with a class of talented young players coming through the ranks as the Mustangs begin a new chapter in their storied football program.

The Mustangs (12-1 last season) open the season on the road against College Park on Friday night as they look to get back to the CIF State championship game. San Marin lost to Acalanes, 24-7, in last seasons North Coast Section Division 4-A championship.

Junior quarterback Daniel Rolovich takes over the starting role from Dominic Ingrassia. Rolovich was 20 for 28 as he passed for 382 yards and six touchdowns, and ran for another five scores, across nine games last season. Taking handoffs from Rolovich are senior running backs Zack Farbstein and Jonah Lozano.

The Mustangs also have returning seniors Wesley Timmel and Joey Cipollina to help with the addition of a handful of young players coming up from last season’s undefeated junior varsity team.

San Rafael

Casey Sully took the reins of San Rafael High football three years ago, and is now starting to see the development of his team.

“This is the class I identified three years ago as the one who totally bought in to what we are trying to do here,” Sully said of his upperclassmen, six of whom have been named captain this year.

Senior receiver Haden Berlinsky and junior receiver Jameson Fondnazio both proved themselves as leaders last season and earned the captains’ patch, along with seniors Joe Miller, Harper Corso, Vielman Garcia and Griffin Madden.

“Having six captains, we felt they were all deserving, and that’s emblematic of the team this year,” Sully said.

Miller is expected to get the majority of the snaps behind center, but the Bulldogs (5-6 last season) have another solid passer in junior Lachlan Royston.

“Miller processes the game real quick and he knows the offense front to back,” Sully said. “Lachlan is a more aggressive guy and he’s thrown a lot over the summer and made a good impression. He makes things happen with his feet. They have different styles, but both play within our system well.”

The Bulldogs open the season with a home game Friday night against Santa Rosa. San Rafael defeated Santa Rosa, 23-9, in last season’s opener.

Tam

With a dozen seniors returning from a winning season that extended into the North Coast Section playoffs, Anthony Mejia feels like he’s got “a good situation to step into” as Tam’s new head coach.

Mejia steps up from defensive coach to head coach, replacing Matthew LemMon, who left in the offseason after seven years with the Red-tailed Hawks to take over the football program at Garden Grove High in Southern California.

“We’re hitting the ground running,” said Mejia, who is taking on his first head coaching job after three seasons on LemMon’s coaching staff. “The kids have a great attitude. After the second-round loss in the playoffs to Marin Catholic, we’re still hungry.”

Senior Reed Edwards takes over quarterbacking duties from Braden Young, who is now a freshman quarterback at Claremont Mudd-Scripps.

Edwards, who impressed Mejia during preseason scrimmages, will have senior Alex Christopher and juniors Octavian Green, Aidan Dodge, Tyler Weisberg and Miles Kelsey to get the ball to.

Mejia is confident in his defense with senior captain John Welborn anchoring the line with Jacob Butler. The offensive line features captain Jack Purchase at center, alongside senior Hayden Perkins.

“We feel the expectations from last year,” Mejia said heading into this season. “We’ve always had a ‘next man up’ mentality. We’ve been training for that. These guys don’t want to be in the shadows. In a transition year that can be important and we’re going to come out in Week 1 with that mentality.”

The Hawks (8-4 last season) open the new era on Friday night against Bishop O’Dowd on the road. They warm up for the new Redwood Empire Valley League schedule with non-league contests against St. Ignatius, Las Lomas and Marin Catholic.

“We wanted to get that monkey off our back against Marin Catholic,” Mejia said.

The Hawks’ new league schedule opens Sept. 28 against Justin-Siena. The Valley League also includes American Canyon, Casa Grande, Petaluma, Napa and traditional rival Redwood.

Tam eliminated Casa Grande, 34-28, in the opening round of the NCS Division III playoffs.

“The way things shook out with Casa Grande last year, that helped put that game on the map,” Mejia said, looking ahead to a budding rivalry. “There’s a little history already there. We’re looking forward to that game. There was some good competition last year.”

Terra Linda

The Trojans’ first playoff appearance since 2018 marked a major comeback for the program under head coach Joe Ayoob last season.

Terra Linda has reason to be excited for the 2024 season after going 3-1 last year against teams in the new Redwood Empire Mountain League. The Trojans defeated San Rafael, Archie Williams and Healdsburg, but lost a competitive game to Sonoma Valley. Terra Linda didn’t play Novato or Piner last season.

However, the Trojans will have to prove themselves without former star quarterback Garrett Pardo. Senior passer Joshua Milani could be thrust into the offensive spotlight, along with seniors Cole Greene, Cale Cizmadia, Mateo Pattani and Dylan Kraus.

The Trojans open the season with a home game on Saturday night at San Rafael High against non-league foe Upper Lake. The league slate kicks off Oct. 5 against Archie Williams.

Tomales

The Braves are back and return almost their entire lineup from a 2023 campaign with mixed results. A freshman-heavy Tomales squad was 4-6 overall in 2023, but only 1-4 with a win over Elsie Allen in the North Central II 8-man league.

Those underclassmen have a year of experience and growth to build on as they prepare for Friday’s home game against former league foe Calistoga after the Braves moved into the NBL-III division for this season.

Tomales will still face tough competition from Anderson Valley, which beat the Braves twice last season, with Cornerstone Christian, Round Valley, Elsie Allen and Potter Valley also standing in the way.

Stepping up for Tomales will be senior captains Stran Stevens, Elvis Alonzo, Carlos Lara and Israel Alcantar. Watch for sophomore receiver Koa Wessner to make his presence felt.