The season started by going sideways but four weeks later, help arrived on the scene.
Despite an 0-3 start and a season interrupted by wildfires in the Northern part of San Francisco Bay that produced unsafe air quality, the American Canyon High football team finds itself in a familiar position -- playing for a Solano County Athletic Conference title. The Wolves, who have won the SCAC every season since 2012 in either sole possession or shared fashion control their own fate.
Their two biggest threats, Vanden and Benicia, are squarely in front of the Wolves, who are 4-3 overall and 2-0 in SCAC. Vanden is 3-4 overall and 2-0 in SCAC. Benicia is 5-2 overall and 1-1 in SCAC but Vanden railroaded the Panthers 52-7 on Friday. Benicia hosts Vallejo and American Canyon the next week.
The Wolves started the season with a 36-34 overtime loss to Woodland. Then came a 28-14 loss to Vintage. Then came a 53-0 loss to an Inderkum team that is 9-0 and has outscored its opposition 489-70.
American Canyon got help one week later and has been a different team offensively since that point, going 4-0 and outscoring the opposition 158-75 comparing to 0-3 and getting outscored 117-52 in the previous three games. That help came via running back Eddie Byrdsong, who transferred to American Canyon from Vintage during the 2016-2017. By way of CIF rules, however, Byrdsong had to sit on the sidelines for the first 30 days of the school year, which amounted to three games.
The Wolves flexbone option offense features concepts rooted in the Houston split back veer. Like most option based offenses, there is the dive track, the pitch track or the keep track. The quarterback reads the defense on the fly and decisions are often based on the front side defensive end. If the end crashes toward the dive track, the quarterback’s correct read is to keep the ball and possibly pitch it. If the front side end, stays on the edge, in football speak known as “staying at home,” the quarterback gives the ball to the dive back.
In a perfect world, the dive back has a mix of Brahma Bull and breakaway speed. Andrew Rapacon fit that mold perfectly for a Wolves team that went 11-2 last season. Rapacon rushed for 1,387 yards on 137 carries and 21 touchdowns last season. The 5-foot-8, 180 pounder was a sledgehammer but also rarely got caught from behind.
Byrdsong is 5-10, 190, and has a more slender build than Rapacon but has not shown his breakaway speed. Byrdsong, however, has been the 18-wheeler rolling downhill for the Wolves offense that lacked such an element earlier this season. Byrdsong gets the grinding yardage inside while running back brethren Kama Aalona and Brenden Johnson along with quarterback LaVar Seay bring the big play element on the perimeter.
Though he filled in as the dive back in Byrdsong’s absence, Johnson was not the ideal dive back but the Wolves needed someone to play that position. Since Byrdsong’s insertion into the lineup, Johnson has finished runs with authority. In American Canyon’s 34-22 win over Mission (San Francisco), Johnson took a pitch from Seay, ran down the sideline for what appeared to be open field. Johnson dipped his shoulder toward a Mission defender and blasted him into next week on his way to a 64-yard touchdown.
In four games, Byrdsong has carried 53 times for 360 yards and two touchdowns. However, it is not necessarily what he has done, it is the opportunities he has generated for teammates. The effect is similar in basketball, you get a prolific scorer, teammates get open shots. In baseball, a prolific hitter gets his teammates better pitches to hit.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
BEFORE BYRDSONG
LaVar Seay
17 carries, 146 yards, two touchdowns
14 of 36 passing, one touchdown, no interceptions, 322 yards
Brenden Johnson
34 carries, 163 yards, one touchdown
Kama Aalona
15 carries, 69 yards
WITH BYRDSONG
LaVar Seay
15 carries, 196 yards, three touchdowns
20 of 29 passing, five touchdowns, one interception, 459 yards
Brenden Johnson
22 carries, 257 yards, three touchdowns
Kama Aalona
29 carries, 275 yards, five touchdowns
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