The first of the North Coast Section previews from what is now an expanded Redwood Empire portion of the section, is from the North Bay League that has been split into two divisions. This preview is for the NBL – Redwood Division, which is considered the 'B' Division in the new NBL competitive equity alignment.
Four of the six teams come over from the old Sonoma County League, and they were the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh place finishers last season - Piner, El Molino, Healdsburg and Elsie Allen - while the other two teams are the ones that finished tied for last place last year in the old North Bay League, Montgomery and Santa Rosa.
All six of the schools obviously had rough seasons last year and have been struggling the last few years, so this should be a breath of fresh air for all of them, and make games more competitive.
This realignment came about with the addition of three Napa County schools joining the NCS in a new Vine Valley League, after they were previously in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
The biggest question is with the six teams only winning 17 games combined last season, who will be the favorite?
EL MOLINO (4-6)
The boys from Forestville would appear to have the most talented returners of any of the teams from the old Sonoma County League, but how they will match up against the teams coming over from the old one division North Bay League will only unfold once the season gets underway.
Jacob Sani, a 5-10, 170-pound senior returns at quarterback after passing for over 1,200 yards and 15 TD and rushing for over 300 yards and six more scores. His best game of the season was in a 35-7 win over a Piner team they will see again this year in league. In that game Sani was 20 of 32 for 238 yards and three touchdowns. Sani will also continue to handle the punting duties where he averaged a very respectable 35.0 yards per punt, and he may also see more time at linebacker where he had an interception, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
Last year’s top running back in the offense of Coach Dave Ramalia, senior Sam Wilson also returns. He rushed for almost 700 yards and eight TD and also had 15 pass receptions.
The Lions lose three of their top four wide receivers but junior and second-leading receiver Jalen Hall is back after over 200 yards receiving last season. He saw some time at running back last season and that could increase.
Wilson, Hall and seniors Jordan Hamner and Wyatt Stringfellow should be the defensive standouts.
Ramalia and his boys open like last year with a St. Bernard’s team they lost to 42-20, and then they play Sonoma Valley of the new Vine Valley League, Lower Lake, Petaluma of the Vine Valley League and Analy of the North Bay League – Oak Division, before opening NBL – Redwood play with Santa Rosa.
By the Santa Rosa game we should have a good idea if the Lions are going to compete for a league title.
ELSIE ALLEN (1-7)
Whether or not realignment will benefit Elsie Allen remains to be seen since the Lobos have only won one game since 2012 and none in league. The lone victory was last season when now second year coach Derek Hester guided the team to a 26-9 season-opening win over St. Vincent de Paul.
With the Santa Rosa fires affecting everyone’s schedules last season, the one win was enough to get Elsie Allen into a temporarily revamped playoff selection process where they snagged the final spot in the D5 playoffs and lost 47-12 in the first round to Arcata.
Nothing has been finalized but with what was going to be the team’s top player, quarterback and defensive back Diego Mendoza transferring to Lower Lake, the quarterback spot is a question mark. The primary running back will be Nils De Kruif who will also play linebacker.
Other players to look for are senior Sebastian Sotelo, juniors Alexis Pacheco and Kevin Venegas, and sophomore Andre Duval.
The Lobos open league play with Montgomery but prior to that they face Cloverdale on the road, Hoopa Valley at home, St. Vincent de Paul in Petaluma and Vacaville Christian on the road.
HEALDSBURG (3-6)
Second-year coach Dave Stine returns his top two offensive threats on a team that didn’t produce a lot of offense and whose only league win in the old Sonoma County League was 28-20 against Elsie Allen. The other two wins came against Marin County Athletic League opponents Drake (7-0) and a 28-6 victory over San Rafael in a season shortened with the Greyhounds losing an October 14 game due to the fires.
Even so, in this new league, having experience in the backfield may prove to be a decided advantage, although Stine only has 23 players listed on his roster compared to 29 last season.
Jake Edmonds, a 5-10, 155-pound junior returns at quarterback where he mostly handed off to 5-11, 200-pound senior Alex Johnson or ran it himself. Edmonds only threw 68 passes and most where short routes as he only had 586 yards passing with seven touchdowns. He ran the ball 48 times but only for 27 yards.
Johnson was the workhorse and likely will be called upon even more this season. He had 125 carries for 665 of the team’s 731 yards rushing but he only found pay dirt twice on a team that only rushed for three scores. Johnson is also the leading returning receiver but he only had six receptions for 37 yards and no scores. On defense he was the leading tackler with 58 plus two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and a blocked field goal.
Johnson will anchor the defense but he will have some help from undersized junior lineman Enrique Lopez. He had 33 tackles but eight were sacks. Another player to look for is junior linebacker Juan Anzures.
MONTGOMERY (3-6)
Vertis Patton begins his first year at the Vikings helm on a team that also only played nine games last year due to the fires.
They only won one North Bay League game but that was 24-13 on the road at a Windsor team that won two games and thus was put in the NBL – Oak Division. There other wins were against Oakland (40-0) and in what was their best performance of the year they were 41-13 winners in a non-league contest against a Sonoma Valley team that is now in the Vine Valley League.
That was last year and this is a whole new situation and Patton and his Vikings would appear to be the early favorites for two reasons. First, they come from the old North Bay League where the competition was a lot stiffer, and second and most important, they return more talent than anyone in the NBL – Redwood Division to start the season, including the top offensive player in the new league, and that’s quarterback Joey Thresh.
The 6-2, 205-pound senior passed for 2,711 yards and 30 TD last season with a couple of huge outings. In a season opening 55-42 loss to Petaluma, Thresh threw for 510 yards and seven touchdowns, both school records. Against Sonoma Valley he passed for 495 yards and six TD.
Montgomery returns its second and third most productive receivers from last season and his two leading rushers.
BJ Johnson, a 6-2, 200-pound senior is back after 46 receptions for 817 yards and nine TD last season. Senior Gavin Lemos had 41 catches for 386 yards and four TD and also rushed for 317 yards and one TD. Senior Jevon Heard had 197 yards rushing.
Johnson, who also plays defensive back, was second in tackles last year with 68, including five for loss. Lemos, who also plays linebacker and safety, had 46 tackles with eight for loss including two sacks, plus he had three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.
Two other players to look for on defense are senior linebackers Matt Carr and Clayton Franklin. Carr led the team in tackles with 86 including five for loss and two sacks, and Franklin had 56 tackles with five for loss including three sacks.
Patton and his boys open with Petaluma, and then go to Casa Grande, Oakland and Windsor before a final non-league game with Maria Carrillo. They then begin NBL–Redwood action at Elsie Allen.
PINER (4-4)
Coach Tom Harris and his Prospectors only played eight games last season, and despite being .500 overall and also in the old Sonoma County League, they were still the fourth place team, and that meant going to the NBL–Redwood Division.
Because Petaluma and Sonoma Valley were ticketed for the new Vine Valley League, the only way Harris and his boys could have gone to the NBL – Oak Division would have been to win the old SCL and that was unlikely as multi-year winner Analy was the champion.
Not only does Harris lose his quarterback and a 1,000 yard rusher, most everyone else that was productive on defense has graduated, and his posted roster is growing but still only at 26 players compared to 38 last season.
One bright spot is junior wide receiver Jake Herman. The 6-1 Herman led the Prospectors with 24 catches for 403 yards and three touchdowns. Running back could be a question mark with 6-0, 180-pound Nick Gonzales possibly stepping up as the primary ball carrier.
Prior to opening league play at home against Healdsburg, Piner opens the season at Rodriguez-Fairfield, comes home for Novato, and then goes to Drake and Tamalpais before coming home to host Lowell-San Francisco.
SANTA ROSA (2-7)
Russell Ponce is back for his second year in his second stint as the head coach of Santa Rosa and although the Panthers tied with Montgomery for the bottom two spots in the old North Bay League they don’t return anywhere near what their cross-town rivals return.
Ponce has not posted a roster yet and there were no stats available from last season, so we will just have to wait and see if they are going to be competitive against Montgomery and the four teams that came over to the NBL – Redwood from the old Sonoma County League.
Ponce and his boys don’t leave the Redwood Empire for their non league schedule with an opener at Analy, home games with Petaluma, Ukiah and Windsor, and a trip to Maria Carrillo before an NBL – Redwood opener at El Molino.
