HEALDSBURG, CA – He didn’t take it to the house, but Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa junior Shane Moran came close after returning the opening kickoff 69-yards to the Fortuna 23 yard line.
Three plays later Newman quarterback Jackson Pavitt found Giancarlo Woods for a 20-yard TD reception and Cardinal Newman (1-0) never looked back in a running clock 38-0 season opening victory on Thursday night at the Cardinals temporary home at Rec Park, one of two alternate sites they will use until the synthetic turf field currently under construction on the Newman campus is completed in October.
Pavitt, a 6-2, 193-pound senior that was the North Bay League – Oak Division Offensive Player of the Year and the Cal-Hi Sports All Redwood Empire Preseason First Team quarterback, finished 10-of-17 for 161 yards passing with two TDs, plus he rushed for 44 yards, all in three quarters of work.
After Pavitt got Newman on the board on offense, Moran got the first of his two touchdowns in the game with his defense after a 27-yard interception return gave Newman a 14-0 lead.
When senior running back Clayton Woo scored on an 18-yard run it was 21-0, and after an 11-play Fortuna drive stalled, a Pavitt to upcoming star and 6-2, 175-pound junior Tsion Nunnally on a 15-yard pass over the middle made it 28-0.
The half ended when senior kicker Ethan Kollenborn booted a 36-yard field goal into the wind to make it 31-0 after two quarters.
The final score of the game came when Moran added a TD on offense to his defensive score after the 5-9. 190-pounder pounded it into the end zone on a 4-yard run. The score was set up by a 61-yard pass from Pavitt to Moran.
Woods, a 6-1, 190-pound senior showed why he was a Cal-Hi Sports Redwood Empire Preseason All First Team selection after finishing with five receptions for 64 yards and the one TD in limited action. Besides the 18-yard TD run Woo finished with six carries for 31 yards while being used sparingly.
Fortuna (0-1) showed the signs of graduating a majority of the players from the 2018 NCS Division 4 championship team and when you’re from a small town it’s hard to reload.
“We came down here to play a game,” remarked Fortuna Coach Mike Benbow. “We got out healthy but our pride got hurt a bit.”
Benbow used two quarterbacks, a thrower in 6-2, 190-pound junior and starter Max Hough, and 6-1, 170-pound senior and running QB Deaden Taylor.
Neither was really able to get much going, and although the Huskies had two long drives, the 11-play drive that went 39 yards and a 13-play drive for 67 yards, both times the Newman defense took over on downs. Fortuna finished with 169 total yards but only made it into the red zone once, and that was on the 67-yard drive.
“It wasn’t super clean. Similar to last year,” Newman Coach Paul Cronin said.
Last season Newman beat Fortuna 35-6 on the road.
“The defense played well but on offense we weren’t focused on some little things, like running the wrong pattern, dropped balls and a missed block that caused a sack,” Cronin continued. “For us to be a great team we have to execute.”
Newman’s next opportunity to clean it up a bit and fully execute comes on the road next Friday night at a CIF Northern Section power Sutter, a team they beat 24-0 last year at home.
