The defense was extremely high on Friday night for the Novato High football team. The unit not only recorded a shutout, but was also responsible for one of the touchdowns in a 22-0 victory against Healdsburg.

C.J. Castro returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, putting Novato up 16-0. Special teams were responsible for the scoring up until that point, with Oliver Garcia kicking a field goal for a 3-0 lead, then Dominic Scafani returning a kick 45 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead.

Scafani scored again, this time on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Trevor Cleary, as the Hornets took a 22-0 lead into halftime.

Leo Hernandez was among the defensive standouts with four sacks, five tackles and one forced fumble. Scafani also had an interception. Elian Escalara had seven tackles.

Running back John DeMartini ran for 123 yards on 13 carries. Cleary completed six of 19 passes for 57 yards.

Tam falls

Quarterback Reed Edwards and receiver Timo Ural had big games as the Red-tailed Hawks made it a game after falling behind early in a 38-25 road loss to American Canyon on Friday night.

Edwards had 323 passing yards and threw for four touchdowns. Ural had six catches for 227 yards and a pair of scores.

American Canyon led 24-6 in the second quarter before Ethan Koo scored a touchdown just before halftime to cut the lead to 24-13. However, the Wolves continued to score and Tam (1-5, 1-1 Valley) scored a cosmetic touchdown as the game ended and pulled within two scores.

American Canyon running back Andre Lopez had more than 200 yards as the Wolves (5-0, 2-0) remained undefeated.

St. Vincent Scrolls

Novato’s Gabe Casanovas, the starting quarterback for the Petaluma Mustangs, threw for six touchdowns and ran for a seventh-place finish in a 62-28 win over Fortuna on Saturday.

The Mustangs, who also got touchdowns from Novato residents Jack Ellis and Tyler Chelew, led 28-0 late in the first quarter. Casanovas completed 17 of 22 passes for 323 yards.

Men’s tennis

Eliot Spizzirri continued his stellar run at the Tiburon Challenger by eliminating the last remaining seed in Saturday’s second semi-final.

Spizzirri defeated No. 2 student Tien 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 6-2 to secure his spot in Sunday’s final. Spizzirri will face Nishesh Basavareddy, who defeated Jack Pinnington Jones 6-2, 6-3 in the other semi-final. The championship game starts at 1 p.m.

Thomas Schoolkate and Luke Sayville, the No. 2 seed, claimed the doubles title on Saturday by beating Spizzirri and Patrick Kypson 6-4, 6-2 in Saturday’s final.

Girls volleyball

Brianna Nottingham had eight kills and three aces as San Marin posted a 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 25-13 victory against Novato on Friday night. Alison Hoburg added five kills and two blocks for the Mustangs (21-9, 2-3). Brooke Brumley had 10 digs and three aces. San Marin faced Novato again on Saturday as part of the NorCal Invitational, defeating the Hornets 2-1. The Mustangs also picked up a win over Oakland Tech en route to an appearance in the Silver Bracket Championship Game.

• In other MCAL action Friday night, Redwood swept past Archie Williams 25-9, 25-17, 25-18. Redwood hosts Branson in a crucial league match on Wednesday evening. Marin Catholic needed four sets to get past Tam, 25-20, 25-17, 12-25, 25-22. The San Rafael-Terra Linda game has been moved to Tuesday due to San Rafael’s homecoming.
• Marin Academy lost to rival University on Friday night, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18.

Girls play tennis

Mirabel Arlander, Katie Warrin, Audrey Gilmor and Paloma Vano-Rice earned singles victories for Branson in a 7-0 victory against San Marin on Friday. Arlander defeated Deepti Bhat 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 at No. 1 singles.

Water polo for boys

Bern Kent scored a team-high six goals as Tam raced past Monte Vista 17-10 on Saturday. Reed Hanna added four goals and four steals and Fields Palmer scored three times for the Red-tailed Hawks (4-3), who play three games in three days, starting at home against Marin Catholic on Monday and ending with another home game against Terra Linda .

Originally published: October 5, 2024 at 7:19 PM