Novato Stingers vs Rancho Cotate - Sept. 28

Novato players wear their game stickers with pride.

The Novato Stingers defense again held the opponents scoreless!

The photos from this Novato Stingers game are now available on the 2009 Novato Stingers Shutterfly site.


Game Summary


The Stingers descended upon the grass turf at Mountain Shadows Middle School for 2:00 PM game against the Rancho Cotate Cougars.  With the game time the temperature approaching 100 degrees it promised to be a scorcher.


The Broncos won the coin toss and elected to take the ball first.  This meant the Novato defense had the opportunity to quickly establish itself again with couple of solid defensive stops and an Alec Ball (12) interception of a short pass in Rancho Cotate territory.  The Stinger offense took advantage of the field position with a short drive and a Ben Putman (10) touchdown run for 10 yards followed by a 2-point PAT kick by Mark Alvarez (21) (Note: at this level the kicking PATs are worth 2-points and the running PATs are worth 1 point).  Stingers up 8-0 early.


After another stingy defensive stand, Novato got the ball back deep in Cougar territory.  Ball quickly took the ball 27 yards for a touchdown.  The PAT kick was low, making it 14-0.  


Heading to the second-quarter, the defense held again, capped by Robbie Cassée's (16) blocked punt giving the Stingers the ball back in Cougar territory.  Ball quickly ran the ball to the 2, setting up quarterback Tommy Sanz's (13) first touchdown of the year. Alvarez followed it up with another 2-point PAT kick giving Novato a 22-0 lead at half-time.


The second-half proved no different for Novato with a strong opening drive capped by Alvarez's 40-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-0. 


Following a Cougar fumble with 2:45 left in the third-quarter, the Stingers drove the field again culminating in Ball's 7-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 34-0, invoking the "mercy rule" again.


With the scoring capped, the Stingers would have scored again on their last play, a 60-yard run by Putman, but the buzzer sounded for a hard-fought 34-0 Novato win.


While the entire defense made the difference all day, Gene Peugh-Wade (8), Hunter Wegner (18) and Chris Fulsom (25) stood out for exceptional plays.


Final Score: Novato Stingers 34, Rancho Cotate Cougars 0


2009 Stingers Record: 4-0


Defensive Points Allowed So Far: 0 !!!!!

Gene Peugh-Wade (8) makes a spectacular tackle in the 2nd Quarter

Hunter Wegner (18) sacks the Cougar quarterback.

Ben Putman (10) dives in for the first TD of the game

Tommy Sanz (13) lines up over center before diving in for a TD

Mark Alvarez (21) runs for a TD - he also accounted for 4 points kicking PATs.

Alec Ball (12) runs for his first of two TDs on the day.

Cheers! - Jason

Novato Yellow Jackets Sept. 28 Game Photos

Yellow Jackets Fans,

Not that any of us want to dwell on Sunday's game, but I have posted photos at http://novatoyellowjackets.shutterfly.com/

“Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points.” --Knute Rockne

Black and Gold! All Day, Everyday! No Mercy!

/Bill Kelly

Novato Yellow Jackets Sept. 19 Game Photos

Joe Kelly (85) goes up for a catch in the end-zone


The Novato Yellow Jackets defeated the Napa Raiders 34-0 on September 19th at Silverado Middle School in Napa.  



The Yellow Jackets were SWARMING Napa on Saturday! If you missed any of the action check out the photos of the game at the Novato Yellow Jackets Football site

Black and Gold. All day, everyday. No Mercy!


/Bill Kelly

Novato Stingers vs Napa Raiders - Sept. 19

Ronnie Lott poses with the Novato Stingers at half-time

Mark Alvarez (21) kicks for a 2-point PAT.  Alvarez accounted for 11-points on the day!

The photos from this Novato Stingers game are now available on the 2009 Novato Stingers Shutterfly site.


Game Summary


The Novato Stingers swarmed the new field at Napa's Silverado Middle School and kept their unblemished record alive with another great performance. The defense was outstanding again holding Napa scoreless and four different Stingers came up with big interceptions on the day. The first was a huge take-away by Danny Dreher  (5) who then ran the ball for a touchdown in the first quarter. Not to be oudone, Dreher's defensive teammates Jordan Polera (6), Henry Dalton (7) and Paul Kunst (24) all had interceptions of their own during the game.


As good as the defense continues to be, the offense was equally up to the task on this sunny day in the wine-country. The scoring starting on the first drive with a Tommy Sanz (13) to Robbie Cassée (16) touchdown pass up the middle. Both that touchdown and the ensuing interception and return by Dreher were followed by 2-point PATs by Mark Alvarez (21) puting Novato up 16-0 early in the first quarter.


The Stingers scored almost at will in the first half. Touchdown runs by Alec Ball (12) and Ben Putman (10) were followed up with 1-point PATs on a run by Alvarez and another catch by Cassée to make it 30-0 in the second quarter. Alvarez capped the official scoring with a long touchdown run down the left sideline to close the first half with the Stingers up 36-0. 


Half-time included a once-in-a-lifetime opportuniy, with former San Francisco Forty-Niner and Oakland Raider great Ronnie Lott paying a visit to watch Novato in action. The players all lined up to shake Ronnie's hand and then had the chance to say hello and get a signature. While the boys may not have fully appreciated the greatness they were meeting, their parents certainly did, so it was a very special day.


With Novato scoring over 30 points, the "mercy rule" was invoked in the second half so the Stingers were limited to running the ball between the tackles, no passing and no further official point scoring. That didn't keep the Stinger offense from crossing into the end-zone a few more times though. The first was a unique opportunity for offensive lineman Brandon Caamal (43) on a fumble recovery and run to the end-zone for a should-have-been touchdown. And the final was a long run by Chris Fulsom (25) to daylight in the fourth quarter.



And through it all the Stinger defense was stingy once again and didn't give up a point all day.  That means the swarming "D" has only given 11 first downs, TOTAL, in three games!

Defensive standouts of note included Eugene Peugh-Wade, Sean McDevitt, Willie Cesterollo, Johnny Viezcas, Ryan Johnson, Hunter Wegner and Daylan Birlin.

Offensive standouts included Michael Sumpter-Blakely, Andrew Larkin, Joseph Navarro, Leonardo Madrigal, Moses Johnson and Anthony Balestreiri.



Final Score: Novato Stingers 36*, Napa Raiders 0
Stingers Record: 3-0


* The mercy rule was invoked at the end of the second quarter


Here are some additional highlight photos from the game:



Robbie Cassée (16) catches it for 6-points to start the scoring on the day.

Danny Dreher (5) scores after picking the ball off in the first quarter.

Alec Ball (12) on his way to a touchdown

Ben Putman (10) scores another touchdown in the second quarter.

Paul Kunst (24) comes down with an interception in the fourth quarter.

Brandon Caamal (43) crosses the end-zone to "score" in the third quarter


Cheers! - Jason

Novato Yellow Jackets Sept. 13 Game Photos

Hi All,

We had a tough game on Sunday, but our boys will regroup this week in preparation for the game against Napa. In the meantime, if you are interested in seeing photos from the September 13, 2009 game against Southern Marin check out http://novatoyellowjackets.shutterfly.com/. There are two albums - mine (Kelly) and Jason Cassée's.

Black and Gold. All day, everyday. No Mercy!

/Bill Kelly

Novato Stingers vs Southern Marin - Sept. 13

Game was Sunday, September 13, 2009 at Novato High School

Note: This article was previously published on Minding My Own Beeswax by Jason Cassée on September 14, 2009.

The Stingers brought crunching, swarming defense all day long!


The photos from this Novato Stingers game are now available on the 2009 Novato Stingers Shutterfly site.

Game Summary

The Novato Stingers played their first home game of the season against cross-county rival, the Southern Marin Broncos, a strong team that went undefeated last year. The game started off well with the Stingers getting the ball first and then marching down the field under the fine quarterbacking of Tommy Sanz and a pesky running game. After pounding the ball on the ground, tight-end Robbie Cassée found himself wide open down the middle for a 20-yard touchdown pass from Sanz. Half-back Ben Putman put the on the finishing touch running for the PAT and Novato had the early lead 7-0.

That's when the Stinger defense got it's first chance of the day. With solid play by the defensive line, they held the Broncos in check and quickly got the ball back for the offense. And it was a routine that would be repeated throughout the day.

After Daylan Birlin recovered the ball when the Broncos mishandled a second quarter punt, the Stingers again drove the field and this time the running game did all the work. The capper was a long run by running-back Angelo Lagomarsino who took the ball around the right end and banged his way through four Bronco tacklers to get into the end-zone for a touchdown.

Novato left the field at half-time with a hard fought 13-0 lead.

The good news in the second-half was Novato wasn't through on the offense side of the ball. Putman took the ball around the left side and wove his way through the Bronco defense for a touchdown on a long run in the third quarter.

The scoring was capped in the third-quarter when running-back Alec Ball ripped off a long run to the left side for another touchdown.

As good as the Stinger offense was, it was the defense that provided the difference in the game. Building on the first-half performance, both the Black and the Gold defenses combined to hold the Broncos to a total of three first-downs and no scoring on the day. Swarms of Novato tacklers converged on every Southern Marin player who handled the ball, and there were no significant penalties to detract from the performance on the field.

"I really liked what I saw from the defensive today," said Stinger head-coach John Jones. "The boys really set a tone today and shut down a really good offense all day!"

Final Score: Novato Stingers 25, Southern Marin Broncos 0

2009 Stingers Record: 2-0

Robbie Cassée is all alone for a catch and run for a touchdown

Daylan Birlin comes up with the ball after a Bronco fumble

Angelo Lagomarsino crosses the end-zone after running over 4 tacklers

Ben Putman eyeing the end-zone on his way to a long touchdown

Alec Ball leads a herd of Broncos to the end-zone

Coach John Jones enjoys the Stingers second win of the season

Cheers! - Jason

Welcome to the Novato Sports Blog

Hello Novato sports enthusiasts.  


Welcome to the new blog dedicated to bringing you information and updates about all things sports in Novato. While I realize that it will take some time to get there, my goal is to create a place where you can expect to find what you want to know about the wide variety of amateur sports teams and individual athletes from our favorite California city.  


Of course, I'm going to need a lot of help to make this happen.  Unfortunately, there isn't much that gets published in the local Novato Advance and Marin IJ because they simply don't have the resources to make it happen. But I know there is already a whole army of people out there who can track and submit scores, updates, rosters, etc. that represent a veritable goldmine of local sports information screaming for publication.


And that, my friends, is where all of you come in.  As a Novato sports enthusiast you are either a purveyor of Novato sports information or you know someone who is.  So when you have a final score from you son or daughter's baseball, soccer, football, basketball, lacrosse or any other game, event or competition, just think of sending it here for publication.  Or, if you have information or know about an article that has been posted about a Novato athelete, send it on it.  Same goes for photos of Novato teams and athletes in action. I only ask that if you have more that a few photos PLEASE post them on Shutterfly, Flickr, Photobucket, ImageShack, or the image posting site of your choice and then send me a link and details about what is available there.  


I'm sure there will be more that I'll need to tell you about and ask you for in the future, but I'll add those as they come up.  For now, I just want to see what we can all do to start bringing more visibility to Novato sports.


Cheers! - Jason