Piner air attack grounds Dragons

In Friday night's first of four straight Sonoma County League games to close the regular season they needed to win for a chance of reaching the postseason, the Sonoma Valley High School varsity football boys, hosting Piner on their homecoming night at Arnold Field, didn't get off to the upbeat start they had hoped for.

With their offense languishing, especially after the first-half loss of main producer and scoring threat senior Tristan Mertens, and kept negating most of their possessions with penalties, the Dragons had to lean heavily on their defense to keep them in the key SCL clash with a Piner team also battling to reach the postseason.

Unfortunately, Sonoma's defense, which looked up to meeting the challenge, turned pouress on four occasions and the visiting Prospectors struck on four long pass-plays that turned into touchdowns.

Trying in vain to catch Piner, the Dragons got some big special-team plays, but they continued to sputter on offense and ended up dropping a frustrating, heartbreaking 26-9 decision.

With the officiating crew throwing a stream of yellow flags, when Sonoma made a big play, they committed a penalty to wipe out the gain, and the Prospectors would respond with a few runs for yardage, before unleashing a series of pass plays, eventually culminating with long touchdowns of 39, 67, 55 and 45 yards, respectively, thrown by quarterback Tyler Okiyama.

Along with the Analy penalty which turned into a two-point safety, the Dragons lone touchdown came on an 11-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Will Lennon, who wasn't given much time to pass throughout the game, and rested in the hands of junior wide receiver Max Yankovich for their lone second-half touchdown.

While defensively, standout seniors Alex Gustafson and Trevor Welch each had a fumble recovery for Sonoma, its one standout area in the game was special teams.

Both Mertens, before he was injured, and senior Kyle Dunevent each picked up big yardage on multiple long kick and punt returns, and senior Noe Baron delivered a series of high, deep punts, and faking a fourth-quarter punt and rumbling for 73 yards.

Sonoma’s gridders travel to Healdsburg for a Friday night, Oct. 24, showdown, before hosting El Molino in their home finale on Halloween Friday, Oct. 31.

The Dragons wrap up regular season play at Elsie Allen in Santa Rosa on Friday, Nov. 7.

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Sonoma’s junior varsity football boys delivered a strong team performance in defeating Piner 20-0 prior to Friday night’s varsity homecoming game.

Dragons of the Week

The Dragons of the Week in Sonoma’s homecoming SCL loss to Piner Friday night at Arnold Field are Josh Coglizer and Max Yankovich.

Coglizer, a 5-foot, 8-inch, 150-pound junior outside linebacker, turned in a standout defensive effort against both the run and pass, making key tackles and applying pressure in the Piner backfield.

Yankovich, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 180-pound junior wide receiver, caught five passes from junior quarterback Will Lennon for 41 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown reception.

The Dragons of the Week are sponsored by Eraldi’s Men’s Wear and Shoes, and Broadway Market.