Sports briefs: San Marin survives in showdown against Windsor

The San Marin High football team played a near-perfect game for three quarters then an imperfect game for one quarter on the road against Windsor on Friday night.

Fortunately for the Mustangs, the work they did while building a 28-point lead through three quarter was enough. Windsor’s furious comeback bid fell short as San Marin came up with a defensive stop at midfield in the final 2 minutes to secure a 35-27 victory.

San Marin (6-1, 1-1 Adobe) led 35-7 at the end of the third quarter. Quarterback Daniel Rolovich threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth as the Mustangs built a seemingly insurmountable lead. Wesley Timmel caught two scoring passes, including a 69-yarder to open the scoring.

Rolovich showed off his wheels on a 67-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter as San Marin jumped in front 14-0. Windsor responded with a long drive that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown run on fourth down by quarterback Carter Vose III that made it 14-7.

San Marin’s Zack Farbstein caught a touchdown from Rolovich as the Mustangs took a 21-7 lead into the locker room. Timmel’s second touchdown and a scoring run by Jonah Lozano had San Marin in front 35-7 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Windsor’s rally started on the first play of the fourth quarter on a long touchdown pass from Vose III to receiver Hayden Anderson. The extra point was blocked and Windsor would need to chase points the rest of the way.

Windsor (5-2, 0-2) recovered an onside kick and quickly scored again to trim the lead to 35-19. The two-point conversion failed. Another successful onside kick and quick touchdown followed but the two-point try failed again, leaving Windsor down 35-25.

San Marin threw an interception but the Jaguars were unable to cash in, throwing an interception of their own on fourth-and-long at San Marin’s 5-yard line. The Mustangs snapped the ball through their own end zone on the ensuing play for a safety and Windsor was suddenly within one score at 35-27 with under 3 minutes to play.

The Jaguars picked up one first down around midfield but stalled there, turning the ball over on downs. San Marin picked up one first down to kill the clock and secure the victory.

Terra Linda rallied for a pair of second-quarter touchdowns and then held on to defeat host Healdsburg for the Trojans’ first win in the new Redwood Empire Mountain League on Friday night.

Trailing 7-0 after a Greyhounds touchdown in the first quarter, the Trojans’ Josh Milani tied the score on a quarterback sneak with three minutes left in the half. Terra Linda scored again to take a 15-7 lead into the break.

Michael Graham fired up Terra Linda with a 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for his second score of the game.

The Trojans (4-3, 1-2 Mountain) are scheduled to play at Piner next week.

Rio Johnson ran for 114 yards on 20 carries and scored twice as San Rafael’s comeback bid fell short on the road against Piner on Friday night.

The Bulldogs (4-3, 2-2 Mountain) trailed 21-7 at the half but were able to pull within 28-20 in the third quarter on Johnson’s second touchdown. San Rafael’s two-point try failed and Piner responded with a long scoring drive to push their lead up to 35-20.

Haden Berlinsky got a touchdown pass from Lachlan Royston in the first quarter. Berlinsky had two catches for 47 yards. Casey Earnest caught a 64-yard pass. Royston went 7 of 14 passing for 183 yards.

San Rafael is set to host Novato on Friday night.

Emmeline Sandgren dished out 18 assists as Tam closed out the regular season with a 25-6, 25-18, 25-13 win against Novato on Friday. Natalia Clifford added seven kills and Reese Murphy had four kills, five blocks, and three aces. Tam (21-9, 5-3 MCAL) enters the league playoffs as the No. 4 seed and hosts No. 5 Terra Linda (20-11, 4-4) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Branson School swept singles play to secure a 5-2 victory over Tam on Friday. The Bulls’ Paloma Vano-Rice rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 10-2 win over Scarlett Wilson at No. 4 singles, and Branson’s Mirabel Arlander, Katie Warren and Audrey Gilmore also won.