Santa Rosa edges past Windsor
With his football team down 10-6 in the fourth quarter, Santa Rosa High School quarterback Trevor Anderson took the snap on third-and-eight, knowing this could be a crucial play against a tough Windsor defense.

He spotted Roman Correa on the post and connected for a 50-yard gain, advancing the Panthers well into Windsor territory with about six minutes left in the game.

“That completely flipped field position and we took it from there,” Santa Rosa coach Russell Ponce said. “Trevor threw a perfect pass to Roman. That was key play of the game.”

Running back Jayvee Long finished with a 25-yard rushing touchdown to put Santa Rosa on top, 13-10.

The Jaguars, though, threatened on their final drive, marching downfield to within Santa Rosa’s 20-yard line.

“They got down in the red zone but we stopped them. They had a guy open and our kid made a play on. It was close but we stopped them,” Ponce said. “Both teams played really well, and classy.”

The first half was a defensive battle that ended with Windsor up 3-0. Both teams moved the ball well, neither team penetrating.

“But our run started picking up in second quarter and we felt confident going into the half,” Ponce said. “In the second half, it turned into an old-school slugfest. Both teams ran the ball really well.”

Long scored both of the Panthers’ touchdowns, a 2-yard run early in the final quarter and the game-winning rush after the key pass play.

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Windsor comes home to host Montgomery this Friday

The varsity football Jaguars continued a challenging pre-league stretch on Friday at Santa Rosa, coming out on the short end of a defensive battle to fall 13-10.

The setback was the third straight for Windsor after an opening game win over Casa Grande, dropping their season record to 1-3.

The Jags will be out for redemption this Friday, Sept. 14 when they host the Montgomery Vikings in the pre-league finale at Kirkpatrick Stadium. Kickoff times for the JV and varsity are 5 and 7:30 p.m.

Jags fall in heartbreaker

Windsor’s third straight setback was perhaps the hardest to take following blowout losses at the hands of Freedom and Del Oro, giving up a late lead in Friday’s clash with the Panthers.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Jags cashed in on a 39-yard field goal from kicker Otis Cain for a 3-0 lead at the half.

The battle for field position raged on in the third quarter, with neither defense yielding points in another scoreless period. The Panthers took a brief 7-3 lead on a 2-yard burst from running back Jayvee Long early in the fourth quarter, but Windsor quarterback Nick Pariani answered with a short drive culminating in a 15-yard scoring run by senior running back Octavio Vega to re-take the lead at 10-7.

The Panthers mounted the winning march midway through the final period when quarterback Trevor Anderson hooked up with receiver Roman Correa on a key 50-yard completion. The play set up a 25-yard scamper from Long to put the Panthers back up by three.

The Jaguars made a late march inside the Santa Rosa red zone, but the threat would fall short as the Panthers hung on for a 13-10 win.

Vega led all Windsor running backs with 75 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Other top backs included Jeremiah Pignataro (7-30), Nick Landeros (4-13) and Pariani (1-3).

Leading defenders included Vega (11 tackles, 2 assists), Pignataro (7, 1), Ben Smith (6,1), Lorenzo Leon (5, 2), Cy Soltanizadeh (5, 2), Aryan Charaniya (4, 2), Jake Seivers (4, 1, INT), Oscar Mayorga (3, 3), Mikey Contreras (3, 1), Landan Estrella (3, 1), Christian Jernigan (2 tackles), Nolan Hardie (1, 1), Cain (1 tackle) and Austin Jacob (3 assists).