Soccer: Casa Grande pulls out an ugly 14-10 win over Tamalpais

Casa Grande earned an ugly 14-10 win over Tamalpais on Thursday night in Petaluma, avoiding a season-ending stumble and remaining undefeated in the Redwood Empire Conference Valley Division thanks to a strong defensive performance and a game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

After Tam (2-6, 2-2) took its first and only lead of the game early in the fourth quarter, the Gauchos (6-2, 4-0) immediately responded with their ensuing drive to take the lead for good at 26 -yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Joey Cerda to Brady Laubscher, who had both of Casa’s touchdowns in the game. Max Drumm then sealed the win with an interception with 20 seconds left.

Takeaways

The Gauchos wasted no time taking an early lead when starting quarterback Danny Mercado connected with Laubscher for a 31-yard score on fourth-and-long, capping the first drive of the game. But from there, the first half became a penalty-filled affair that prevented both teams from finding a rhythm on offense. Tam suffered 11 penalties in the game, including seven in the first half, while Casa received six or four penalties in the first half.

After scoring for the first time, Casa finished the first half with four consecutive turnovers on downs and an interception, but still took a 7-0 lead into the break thanks to an outstanding defensive performance. Tam managed just 50 yards of offense by halftime and saw his first-half possessions end with a punt, a turnover on downs, a punt, a fumble and another punt.

But momentum shifted in Tam’s favor in the third quarter. Mercado had left the game early in the second quarter with an apparent right elbow injury after being hit in the throwing arm while attempting a pass. He spent most of the second quarter on the sideline, being coached by trainers and throwing passes to his teammates to test his pain. He finally got back into the game in the second half, but his first play – and the Gauchos’ only offensive play of the third quarter – ended with a safety that put Tam on the board, 7-2, with four minutes left.

Tam then took the lead on its ensuing possession and scored its only touchdown on a short run by Ethan Koo to open the fourth quarter. The touchdown was set up by a 23-yard completion to star receiver Timo Ural – their longest play of the game to that point – that brought the Red-tailed Hawks to the Casa goal line.

Suddenly down 10-7 and their quarterback battling an injury, the Gauchos found their rhythm on offense and took the lead with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Cerda’s touchdown pass Laubscher ended. Cerda took a short throw from Mercado and threw his throw in the air to Laubscher, who picked it up and dove over the goal line to make it 14-10 with 8:26 to play.

Casa was able to force a quick three-pointer, but then had to cut it back to Tam with 1:30 left in the game. The Red-tailed Hawks were able to secure a first down, but Drumm’s interception on fourth-and-10 put an end to the potential go-ahead score.

Mercado completed 9 of 18 passes for 104 yards and ran for 38 of his 54 yards in the second half. Ronan Curley led the rushing attack with 76 yards on 20 carries. Defensively, the Gauchos had six sacks in the game, two each from Franco Bernardini and William Zell, while Bernardini joined Drumm with a takeaway as he also recovered a fumble.

Key game

Cerda’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Laubscher was undoubtedly the highlight of the game. It capped the Gauchos’ best possession of the second half and put the game on the line.

Quotable

“A win is a win. Sometimes you have to push through it and fight through adversity. We talked at halftime about how adversity is sometimes a good thing and you realize what’s important to you: your toughness. We had what we thought was a good week of practice, but it was a short week. Playing on Thursday is already an adversity. There’s that, and then you have to focus on Tam, who beat us in the playoffs last year, so let’s talk about that now. So a lot of mental stuff. They didn’t play the cleanest offensively in the first half, and then of course in the second half there are two points for a poorly played punt, and then we do the counterattack on the goal line, and that equals two points. But the boys showed that they can persevere. It’s a tough ask for us, but we’ll get the win.” — Casa Grande head coach John Antonio.

What’s next?

Casa Grande gets an extra day to prepare for a potential league-defining battle next week at American Canyon (7-0, 3-0).

YReach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JustGusPD.