New and improved Braves ready for section final

Justin-Siena to tackle Salesian with playoff confidence

By TED SILLANPAA
Register Sports Writer

There was a point this season when Justin-Siena’s football team began to question itself.

“We know that we haven’t done very well in games we really needed to win,” senior lineman Justin Clayton said before a must-win game against Tamalpais on the road. “We need to show we can win a big game.”

The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder was right, too. The Braves were staggered, at home, by San Marin -- losing on the final play of the game on the final play of the game one yard from San Marin’s end zone. Marin Catholic came next and won a close game that, really, dashed Justin’s Marin County Athletic League title hopes. Finally, 21⁄2 quarters of great football went to waste in Novato and the Braves wound up losing to the MCAL champions 30-0.

“We just aren’t playing Justin-Siena football,” senior Craig Cybulski had said even earlier, after a lackluster loss at home to Menlo Prep.

All that seems like ancient history now as the Braves (8-4) prepare to take on Salesian of Richmond (9-2) Friday in the North Coast Section Div. IV championship game. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Alhambra High School in Martinez.

The Braves who went flat in the face of adversity have given way to a Justin team that blew past St. Patrick’s of Vallejo in the first round of the section tournament, then upset No. 1-seeded Ferndale on the road, 22-15, last Saturday. All the questions have been answered.

“We’re not the same team we were four, five weeks ago,” said Justin head coach Rich Cotruvo. “They’re confident and they expect good things to happen. They expect to play well.”

If ever there was a time the old Braves could have emerged from the shadows and wilted under the playoff heat, it was Saturday at halftime in Ferndale. The Wildcats held a 15-9 lead despite the fact that Braves’ offense had spent most of the first half in Ferndale territory and the defense had pinned the previously unbeaten ’Cats in the shadow of their own goal posts for the bulk of the first 24 minutes.

“The players were mad,” Cotruvo said right after the Braves rallied to win. “They were angry. There was no question that they expected to go out and play well in the second half. That wasn’t always the case earlier in the season.”

Cybulski, who starred on defense and as a receiver even before turning two bad snaps into momentum-changing punts, responded to questions about the questions the Braves had earlier.

“Oh, no … there was nothing like that,” he said in Ferndale. “We were confident at halftime and we went out and played like it.”

Justin rides a four-game winning streak into Friday’s title game. The Braves blew through two wins against MCAL cellar-dwellers, then exploded with two impressive playoff wins. All four games had one thing in common: the Braves couldn’t afford to lose any of them.

“That’s what we practice and condition and lift weights for from January on,” Cotruvo said after the Ferndale win. “We prepare to play well in adversarial conditions.”

Defensive coordinator Steve Vargus, who tweaked the defense to the point that powerful Ferndale couldn’t move at all in the second half Saturday, said there’s something else he’s noticed when the Braves are playing well.

“We stop making mistakes,” he said. “When we aren’t missing tackles and dropping passes, things go better. We eliminated the mistakes in the second half (against Ferndale).”

The Braves also showed they’re willing to utilize their talent in any way deemed necessary. Linebacker Daniel Pardini spent a great deal of time in pass coverage against Ferndale in the second half after the Wildcats had hurt the Braves with two long scoring passes.

“We helped some guys who’d had some trouble,” Cybulski said. “And, that enabled those players to step up and do their jobs.”

Kevin Reinell, who was the Braves’ quarterback for two years, returned to center stage on offense. The senior lined up as a running back and had carries between the tackles. He lined up as a receiver and caught short, intermediate and deep passes. And, finally, he took advantage of his speed advantage over Ferndale and stretched the field horizontally from a wingback spot.

“Kevin’s a really, really fast kid,” Cotruvo said. “We wanted to get him the ball. He’s very skilled.”

Reinell spent the bulk of the year doing nothing but lining up at receiver. In Saturday’s game, he had more than 40 yards as a kick returner to account for nearly 170 all-purpose yards.

Junior linebacker Quin Stanier sparkled on defense and made big plays at tight end with starter Curtis Sawyer still injured.

Casey Tompkins’ return to action to man the middle of the defense line and bulk the offensive line was a key against Ferndale and will be even more important against a faster, stronger Salesian squad.

Third-seeded Salesian advanced to the title game by surprising No. 2 seed Middletown 22-21 in Middletown. Most amazingly, the win avenged a 49-20 loss to Middletown that came in the second week of the season. The Bay Football League champions have a seven-game winning streak and have outscored opponents 366-176.

Once again, the pressure will be squarely on the shoulders of Justin’s 5-foot-8 junior quarterback, Eddie Aguayo.

“I don’t mind the pressure,” he said. “Once I make a play, I kind of relax and just play.”

Cotruvo and his staff have learned to utilize Aguayo’s strengths and minmize the speedster’s weaknesses.

“We like to move him around, roll him to throw,” Cotruvo said. “That helps him … he can see the defense better, because he’s not a tall kid.”

Salesian played a schedule filled with Division IV schools while Justin played in the MCAL against Division III opponents. Playing up in league competition has helped the Braves in the playoffs.

“The MCAL really prepares us for the playoffs,” Cotruvo said. “We’ll always have trouble winning the MCAL championship being a smaller school, but it’s a really, really tough league.”

Justin-Siena vs. Salesian

CIF North Coast Section Div. IV Championship,

At Alhambra High School, Martinez,

7 p.m. Friday

Radio: KVYN,

99.3 FM, 6:45 p.m.

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