By definition, the term “du jour” pertains to special of the day. The word is normally used in combination with soup or other meals. The term is also most commonly used in newspapers, magazines, and talk shows as it pertains to topics at hand.
I’m going to narrow it down to high school football in the Napa Valley. Between working my day job as a route driver for Alhambra Water, I went to my hobby on Friday night after work to cover the American Canyon Wolves and Mission (San Francisco) Bears. American Canyon won 34-22. I’m not necessarily going to recap any games per se but I’ll touch on topics instead:
Vintage Crushers are 4-0
I want every Napa Valley high school athletic program to succeed but I must say I am thrilled that Vintage improved to 4-0 with Friday’s 24-21 win over Lincoln (Stockton). With Napa and Vacaville dominating the Monticello Empire League since 2002, Vintage was either a dud or fair-to-midland in those years, mostly the latter.
The Crushers’ last three wins have been by three points or less. They are living a charmed life. Vintage will likely stumble at some point before the end of the regular season but when you play a physical brand of football and are coached up, that can go a long way. The Vintage administration got it right welcoming 1992 graduate Dylan Leach back as the head coach. The Crushers 4-0 start is their best since 1997.
Hold the obituary on Napa
The obituary would have been written had the program not found a coach by June 15. We don’t need to go into details because unless you have been on an island examining coconuts you know the particulars.
The narrative was that a grueling nonleague schedule that included powerhouses like Nevada Union, Rocklin and Pleasant Valley (Chico) would doom the Indians. Pleasant Valley was the CIF State 4-A champion but on Friday night in North Central California, the Indians defeated Pleasant Valley 14-10 to improve to 2-3. I’ll be brutally honest, before the season I factored in the nonleague slate with the tumult the program endured. I thought 2-3 would be a success. Entering MEL, I still think Vacaville is the team to beat but Napa and Vintage could have something to say about that. Credit head coach Jesus Martinez and the coaching staff for keeping the ship on course when it could have sunk.
That said: I don’t mean this disparagingly but Rodriguez and Armijo are MEL humpty dumpties. Wood (Vacaville) can be a threat but without quarterback Carson Strong, if you contain running back Daniel McFadden, you contain the Wildcats. With American Canyon establishing its own tradition and Vintage ascending, it makes football compelling in the Napa Valley. You don’t want what is happening in nearby places like Fairfield and Vallejo, where football is a dumpster fire.
American Canyon Wolves are prowling again
The Wolves were knocked back on their heels with three straight losses (36-34 in overtime to Woodland; 28-14 to Vintage and 53-0 to Inderkum). American Canyon has since woken up with wins over Wood (44-29) and Mission-San Francisco (34-22). The addition of Vintage transfer Eddie Byrdsong cannot be overstated. He runs violent between the tackles as the dive back and makes the offense harder to defend. Now Brendan Johnson, LaVar Seay and Kama Aalona can run in space.
American Canyon would love nothing more than to give the Solano County Athletic Conference the double barrell before going to the CIF North Coast Section next school year. The Wolves have won five straight SCAC titles, either solo or shared. They would love to do it solo. That goal is on the table. Bethel, Vallejo and Fairfield are going to fight for scraps. I believe the Wolves are superior to both Vanden and Benicia but I can’t bring myself to underestimating either.
St. Helena is not going away in the NCL I
Unlike previous years in the 2010s, the Saints are not in the North Central League I driver’s seat but they are still in the car. St. Helena has the appearance of a team that can win enough games to be an NCS Div. V playoff team after a 41-0 win over St. Vincent (Petaluma). The score was deceptively close because the running clock rule went into effect in the second quarter.
The Saints (3-1) host Lower Lake (4-1) on Friday. The Trojans are a markedly improved club over years past under fourth-year head coach Justin Gaddy. Lower Lake, which is the largest school in Lake County, has always had athletes but now has the football IQ to match. Combine that with the fact that St. Helena players are becoming increasingly more comfortable in their retooled schemes, you have a compelling matchup.
Justin finds the win column
Gauging the difficulty or lack thereof in a nonleague schedule is often subjective but that cannot be said about the Braves, who are now 1-4 after beating San Rafael 48-0 on Friday. Justin’s nonleague foes have a combined record of 15-3. Since they lost those games by a combined score of 155-38 and shredded an overmatched team on Friday, it’s hard to gauge how good the Braves are or could be potentially.
Looking at the landscape of the remaining schedule, Marin Catholic is a likely loss. Terra Linda is 4-1 and much improved under former Justin head coach Rich Cotruvo. The rest of the Braves schedule consisting of Sir Francis Drake, Novato, and Redwood are winnable contests. The question is that if the Braves go say 4-6 or 5-5, will it be enough to make a return trip to the NCS Div. IV playoffs?
Calistoga faces unknowns in NCL III
The Wildcats dropped their first game this season, falling to Rincon Valley Christian (Santa Rosa) 70-28. Before the season, the NCL III was revamped to North and South so as to decrease the likelihood of forfeits. Calistoga is in the South with familiar foes RVC and Tomales. The unknowns, however, are newcomers like Branson (Ross) and Stuart Hall (San Francisco).
I am the first one to scoff at the common opponents theory Calistoga and Branson have one common foe -- Roseland Prep (Santa Rosa). The Wildcats defeated Roseland Prep 66-24 with Branson beating them 70-6. Calistoga and Stuart Hall have no common opponents to date. The other unknown on the Wildcats’ schedule is nonleague foe Cornerstone Christian (Antioch) on Oct. 28. The Cougars are 2-2 with wins over Crystal Springs (68-16) and East Palo alto Phoenix Academy (54-0). Cornerstone christian has losses to Woodside Priority (72-0) and Pinewood (62-0).
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