PETALUMA, Calif. – The Windsor Jaguars, the top team in the North Bay area of the Redwood Empire Conference of the CIF North Coast Section the past couple of seasons, had won the previous two D1 Bound Football Academy 7-on-7 tournaments held at St. Vincent de Paul.
However, after winning all its games on Friday, including a 26-14 victory over host St. Vincent de Paul on two late TD receptions by Cal-Hi Sports All State honoree and 6-1, 195-pound Nevada Las Vegas-committed incoming senior wide receiver and defensive back Hayden Anderson, the short-handed Jaguars won their quarterfinal and semifinals contests, but could not three-peat in the fourth annual event directed by former Marin Catholic and UCLA star running back and NFL alum Kahlil Bell.
Instead, it was host St. Vincent de Paul taking home the hardware after avenging Friday’s defeat with a dominating Saturday afternoon 26-7 victory in which the Mustangs never trailed.
“That’s a great team you just beat. The best team in our area,” St. Vincent de Paul head coach Trent Herzog told the team immediately after the game.
“But don’t let it go to your head because a 7-on-7 doesn’t win state championships,” continued Herzog, who led the Mustangs to not only their fifth CIF North Coast Section championship and first since 2008, but also to the 2023 state CIF 6-AA Bowl Game championship after a convincing 27-6 victory over Wasco.
There was no MVP named for the D1 Bound tournament but pretty much everyone agreed that St. Vincent de Paul incoming senior Tyler Chelew was the unofficial MVP after the 5-10, 175-pound wide receiver, who also plays defensive back and handles the placekicking duties for the Mustangs, hauled in 14 touchdowns in the seven games played between Friday and Saturday.
Windsor was missing some key players and by the championship game the only player that was really making a significant impact against St. Vincent de Paul was Anderson, and in the championship game he was being triple-teamed but the other Jaguars receivers were not able haul in any touchdowns until the final drive of the game when they were facing a 26-0 deficit.
After Windsor did not score on the game’s opening drive St. Vincent de Paul incoming senior Jack Ellis, who just received an offer from Nevada Las Vegas, opened the scoring when the 6-5, 215-pound tight end went over two defenders in the left corner of the end zone to haul in a TD pass from 6-2, 190-pound incoming junior quarterback Gabe Casanovas. Anderson broke up the extra point pass attempt and it was 6-0 Mustangs.
Windsor would come up empty on all three of its first half drives and in fact they only tallied a lone first down.
Meanwhile St. Vincent de Paul only had two drives in the first 20-minute running clock first half, but scored on both with a TD reception by 6-0 junior wide receiver George Chaput giving the Mustangs a 13-0 halftime lead.
Casanovas was intercepted on the St. Vincent de Paul drive to open the second half, his only gaffe in the game, but the Mustangs defense returned the favor on the Jaguars’ ensuing drive when they intercepted sophomore quarterback Carter Vose.
Wasting little time St. Vincent de Paul scored on its next drive to take a 19-0 lead when 6-0, 190-pound incoming senior Joseph Edwards hauled in a pass from Casanovas in almost the exact same spot in the left corner of the end zone as Ellis for the first Mustangs score.
Touchdown pass No. 14 at the D1 Bound Football Academy for Chelew made it 26-0 after he scored on a pass from Casanovas and with the extra point it was 26-0 Mustangs.
Windsor avoided a blanking when Vose connected with junior wide receiver and backup quarterback Fernando Lopez, but at that point time had nearly expired.
“We’ve won the last two years so we thought we’d let St. Vincent win this year,” mused Windsor head coach DJ Sexton. “But really, we had some injuries yesterday and today we had some trouble covering.”
St. Vincent de Paul had punched its ticket to the championship with 45-12 win over Analy-Sebastopol and a semifinal 40-20 victory against St. Helena. Windsor got to the title game after a 28-14 victory over Casa Grande-Petaluma and a 33-24 win against Tamalpais.
Herzog was absolutely correct about 7-on-7 camps not winning any championships, but what the events do showcase are the passing game and the quarterbacks, and St. Vincent de Paul had the top one at the D1 Bound in Casanovas, and two of the top receivers as well.
“With all the reps we really came together and me and the receivers got a lot smoother,” said Casanovas, who was named the MVP of the state championship title game by Cal-Hi Sports.
“This summer we have a lot more guys with experience and leadership on this team,” remarked Chelew about the difference between this summer and last summer. “Having the experience of a state championship and knowing the system helps a lot.”
“It feels like the amount of work we put in this summer, playing at Cal Poly and (UC) Davis prepared us to play the best teams in the area,” said Edwards about beating Windsor. “We came in here early today and watched film so we were definitely prepared after the loss yesterday.”
Besides the top talent on the two teams that played for the championship the semifinalists and a few other teams participating in the 14-team event displayed some solid talent. We were unable to see every team so we concentrated on the top teams and the eight teams that made the quarterfinals
Other than some players already mentioned leading the underclass players were three incoming sophomores from Montgomery-Santa Rosa and an incoming junior from St. Helena. All four made significant impressions on the assembled media and scouts.
Montgomery lost 18-12 in its quarterfinal matchup with Tamalpais-Mill Valley but although he is a bit raw and can use some improvement in his footwork, 6-3, 200-pound quarterback Thor Boswell has the size and the arm strength to make some noise in the future. Owen Grafe, a 6-0, 177-pound defensive back and wide receiver was impressive on both sides of the ball. Some assembled analysts said he might be the second best defensive back in the area to Anderson of Windsor. The third incoming Montgomery sophomore that looked solid was 6-3, 170-pound wide receiver and defensive back Deysean Akins.
The incoming junior was Dean Sommer. The 6-2, 170-pound wide receiver and defensive back already was the leading wide receiver last season for St. Helena and with his size and speed could be one of the most dominant players in the North Central I League. In a 20-19 victory over Archie Williams-San Anselmo he had two pick sixes, including one that pretty much iced the game and gave the Saints a 26-12 lead late in the game.
Two other quarterbacks that made an impression were incoming junior St. Helena quarterback Jhony Covarrubias and St. Vincent de Paul incoming freshman Willie Peterson, who will play JV this season according to Herzog.
A couple of incoming junior backup quarterbacks that got the starting nod at D1 Bound and looked good were Joey Cerda of Casa Grande and Wyatt Leach, who will be playing for Tamalpais first year head coach and Tam paraeducator Anthony Mejia.
With realignment in the Redwood Empire portion of the CIF North Coast Section with football now having four leagues that are using past competitive equity to gauge strength and divide them into A, B, C and D leagues in what is being called the Redwood Empire Conference Football, all four leagues were represented at the D1 Bound Football Academy, as well as teams from the North Central I League, plus NCS 8-man champion Roseland Prep-Santa Rosa.
