Santa Rosa Academy struggles against Fairmont Prep

Santa Rosa Academy cornerback Marnel Chebat makes the tackle on a Fairmont Prep ballcarrier Saturday night.

Story and photo by Joe Quinn

Miscues and strong front seven defensive play by the opposition doomed the Santa Rosa Academy football team’s efforts Saturday night in a 48-8 loss to visiting Fairmont Prep.

The visiting Fairmont Prep Huskies took a 14-0 advantage early in the first quarter and had another TD called back on a penalty. Things got a little better for Santa Rosa in the second quarter as Tim Marlow took one in around the right side for a touchdown and dove for the two-point conversion.

But it was a small dent in the Huskies’ advantage as they took a 34-8 lead into the locker room at the half.

Things did not get better for the Rangers after the half as Fairmont scored in the third quarter to make it 41-8 and again at 9:31 in the fourth to take it to the final score of 48-8. The game ended with Fairmont deep in Ranger territory but taking three knees to run out the clock.

The game could have been a lot tighter except for three Fairmont touchdowns off turnovers in the first half.

It was Senior Night for the home team, but Santa Rosa is made up of mostly underclassmen with only four seniors moving on. This would seem to bode well for future success under the new coaching staff.

Despite the one-sided score, several players on the Rangers defense made an impact. Caden Frutos and Kai Loquet seemed all over the secondary and were hard to beat by the Huskies' receivers. Joshua Barnebee plugged the middle well and was in on several tackles, particularly as they held the Huskies to two scores in the second half. Marnel Chebat made some gain-saving open field tackles.

On the offensive side, Marlow provided some hope and the QB play of Sophomore Michael
Hazzard went well with some long gains to Isaac Felix and some near misses well downfield.

The Rangers play again next Saturday at the Heritage High field against long distance visitor Johnson High of Sacramento. The game is set to start at 11 a.m.