Vintage-American Canyon football matchup a win-win

March might not be a month that moves the needle in terms of high school football but in a certain segment within the Napa Valley, that needle pegged into the alert zone with the revelation that Vintage and American Canyon High would meet on the football field.

The two teams meet at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 2, for what it likely the start of a home-and-home series.

Throughout the calendar year, teams gradually release their 2016 schedules on maxpreps.com and other outlets. While this matchup was common knowledge for a couple months prior, it became maxpreps.com official in March.

In order to understand the football significance, you must understand the community importance. Vintage opened its doors in 1972, giving Napa two public high schools. Napa High has been in existence since 1897. Despite skyrocketing population through the 1990s and especially the 2000s that eventually reached 19,000, American Canyon did not open its own high school until the 2010-2011 school year thanks to Measure G, which was passed in 2006 thanks to Napa County voters.

American Canyon had two elementary schools and a middle school but youngsters had to go to high school somewhere else. They would scatter to places like St. Patrick’s (Vallejo) or Justin-Siena (Napa) if they went the private school route. If they stuck with public schools, they would go to Napa or Vintage but mostly the latter.

Without getting too editorial, American Canyon kids were often looked at as outsiders on these various campuses. Though the community markets itself as “Gateway to the Napa Valley,” it is not looked upon favorably in some circles. In fact, American Canyon is looked at as a halfway house between Napa and Vallejo in that you either live there because you can’t afford the former or want to escape the latter.

The vibe of the American Canyon community began to change when the school opened its doors in August 2010 because it gave the kids of that town their own identity. There is a big emotional difference for a local kid wearing a shirt that says, “American Canyon” draped across the front as opposed to the name of another school.

On the football side of the equation, both schools have established tradition. Crosstown rival Napa gets much attention, and rightfully so, for its recent success that has netted 14 consecutive postseason appearances, 13 postseason wins and one CIF Sac Joaquin Section Div. I title since 2002. Vintage, however, has its own history of success, most notably two SJS titles (1980 and 1986) but the Crushers have not won a postseason game since 1986 despite several appearances under Dave Shipp, Jim Costan, Les Franco, Billy Smith and Kyle Hofmann.

The Crushers hope to continue that trend and then some under first-year head coach Dylan Leach.

Vintage went 8-2 in 2000, Franco’s first season and had consecutive 1-9 seasons in ‘09 and ‘10, but the Crushers have been mostly a ‘tweener in the Monticello Empire League -- not good enough to be Napa or Vacaville but not bad enough to be Armijo or Rodriguez. Most of their seasons have teetered between 4-6 and 6-4. The hiring of Leach has generated much excitement -- and for good reason. Leach spent the previous five years as Napa’s defensive coordinator but has Burgundy and Gold coursing through his veins. He is a 1992 Vintage High graduate and was a Crusher varsity assistant from 2003-2009.

American Canyon has had five varsity football seasons, four SJS playoff appearances, three postseason wins and has won at least a share of the Solano County Athletic Conference four times. In that span, the Wolves have compiled an overall mark of 37-20 under three different head coaches (Ian MacMillan, Ernie Lawson and Larry Singer). The only year the Wolves did not qualify for the postseason was in 2011, when they went 4-6, but to add further perspective, American Canyon did not have seniors that season and even with a bevy of injuries were in postseason contention until the last week of the season. I would argue that the Wolves would be competitive in the MEL right now but that’s another story for another day.

American Canyon and Vintage have met in most every sport with football being one of the few exceptions. The two programs actually did compete against each other in a scrimmage in 2011 at Memorial Stadium. From a football standpoint, you can’t give any credence to what happens in that format because a) You are only playing on 50 yards worth of field, b) Special teams is not in the equation and c) No one keeps score.

That scrimmage got particularly heated between the two clubs with both sides getting chippy. For that reason, perhaps it is best that the much anticipated matchup is not coming until five years later. Football is an emotion driven sport. At that time, the Wolves were loaded with players that had suited up for Vintage two years earlier. Therefore, it is understandable why emotions were going to run higher than normal.

That is not to say they cannot run high five years later but at least with this passage of time, there are no kids at American Canyon that set foot on Vintage High’s campus as a student. Translation, American Canyon is all those kids know.

While American Canyon will never replace Napa as Vintage’s main rival, the advent of this matchup comes at a good time. Napa has won 12 of the last 13 head-to-head meetings with Vintage, mostly in decisive fashion. While The Big Game will always be a monster draw at the gate, the matchup on the field has lost its luster. If anything, Vacaville has become a rival to Napa more so than Vintage. This is a good time for Vintage and American Canyon matchups to create their own identity.

This matchup is also a “win-win” at the gate. If there is one thing Wolves and Crushers fans are willing to do, it is travel.

Let a new chapter of Napa Valley high school football begin.