Napa Valley playoff football halfway around the horn

The wildfires in Butte County, CA, caused the CIF North Coast Section to call an audible
with its football playoff schedule.

Though the Northern California fires most directly affect Butte County, wind gusts have
blown smoke into surrounding counties that include but are not limited to Solano, Contra
Costa, Yolo, Lake, Napa and Sonoma Counties. As a result, NCS commissioner Gil
Lemmon e-mailed a variety of people informing that 75 percent of Friday’s scheduled
playoff games would be moved to Monday.

Two of those games involved Napa County teams. No. 8 American Canyon was slated to
top-seeded Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) in a Div. II matchup. No. 7 St. Helena was
scheduled to visit No. 2 Salesian (Richmond) in a Div. V contest. Both of those games
have been moved to Monday, the former for a 7 p.m. kickoff, the latter for 1 p.m, as there
are no lights on Salesian’s homefield.

Two other games, however, took place. In Div. I, the No. 8 seeded Vintage Crushers stunned
the No. 1 seeded Antioch Panthers 24-21 in double overtime. In Div. IV, the No. 10 seeded
Justin-Siena Braves saw their season end with a 37-21 road defeat against the No. 2 seeded
Del Norte (Crescent City) Warriors. Here’s a closer look:

VINTAGE

The deeper meaning of the win: Besides playing the role of bracket buster in the NCS Div.
I playoffs, the win brought smiles to the Vintage community for a different reason. On
Wednesday night, 2018 Vintage High graduate Alaina Housley was one of at least 13
people confirmed dead in the mass shooting that took place at a western bar in Thousand
Oaks, CA. Housley was a freshman at Pepperdine University. Yountville and its Chamber
of Commerce held a candlelight vigil for Housley on Thursday night.

After the game, Vintage head coach Dylan Leach posted a powerful and moving statement
on his Facebook page: “I want to thank everyone who supports me and the Vintage High
School football program.

Tonight was a big win for us. We as a program discussed playing this game for our
community, who is broken and grieving right now. I know it means little but our hope was
to bring pride and joy to the community if only to smile, cheer, and be joyous for the
moment.

I coached tonight for my friends, Arik Housley, Hannah Housley and Adam Housley and
their whole family. You were on my mind the whole way. The Vintage football community
loves you and sends our love and support. We can't imagine your loss but I guarantee you
we will fight next week for the school and community we all know Alaina loved.

Best wishes! You are loved and supported”

Looking back: One week after scoring its first playoff win in 32 years, the Crushers
travelled to East Contra Costa County, reached into the chest cavity of the No. 1 seeded
Panthers and ripped their hearts out. Vintage overcame a 14-0 deficit in the process as
Antioch’s Willem Karnthong delivered a 39-yard touchdown pass to Gaudie Campbell for
a 7-0 lead at halftime that swelled to 14-0 when Devonyae McClay returned the second
half kickoff 89 yards to paydirt. In the process, Vintage lost starting sophomore quarterback
Jacob Aaron with a shoulder injury, which pressed senior Michael Webber into duty.
Webber also plays wide receiver and cornerback.

Vintage also had to overcome what looked like a costly lost opportunity when it marched
13 plays and 8:31 off the clock before turning the ball over on downs. The Crushers shaved
the lead in half with 27 seconds left in the third quarter as Viliami Schaumkel capped a
12-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing possession, Vintage defensive
end Colton Fisher recovered an errant snap at the Antioch 14. Four plays later, Schaumkel
tied the game with another rushing touchdown.

Antioch had a chance to win in regulation but Omar Curiel’s 35 yard field goal was no
good. In the first overtime, Schaumkel scored to put Vintage up 21-14 but Antioch answered
with Karnthong connecting with Campbell for another score. In the second overtime, Curiel
missed another field goal but Vintage’s Eddy Gonzalez drilled the game-winning 35-yarder
for a walkoff win.

Looking ahead: The Crushers will not know their opponent until Monday night. Vintage
will take on the winner of No. 4 San Ramon Valley and No. 5 Monte Vista (Danville). The
date, time and venue will be determined. Both teams had first round byes and compete in
the East Bay (Mountain) Division, Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley went 7-3 and 6-4
respectively. Neither team has a common opponent with Vintage.

Though there has been no official word from the Crushers, they are going to have to make
due without Aaron, who has given the team a steady hand at quarterback. Aaron's mother,
Katie, revealed on her social media plays that her son has sustained a broken collar bone but
the good news is that surgery will not be required. Also good news is that Webber
is a capable replacement who knows the offense. The Crusher defense also gives this team
a puncher’s chance in any game. Vintage’s defense played a huge role in the team’s
comeback victory over Antioch. Webber had two interceptions.

JUSTIN-SIENA

Looking back: This game in many ways, was a microcosm of the Braves season: Much
excitement on offense from senior quarterback Barrett Donohoe but enough mistakes to
get beat. Justin was within ten minutes of scoring its second NCS Div. IV playoff upset in
as many weeks but to no avail. Justin led 21-20 with 10 minutes left in the contest before
the Warriors scored 17 unanswered points. Del Norte will play the winner of Monday’s
game between No. 3 Kennedy (Richmond) and No. 6 Fortuna.

The Warriors took the lead for good with OJ Calleja’s 1-yard scoring run followed by an
Ethan Price two-point conversion. Price set up the touchdown with a 63-yard run. From
there, the game unraveled for the Braves. On the ensuing possession, Justin was forced to
punt but the snap sailed over punter Shane Rosenthal’s head for a safety, thus creating a
two-possession game. Price later punctuated the win with a 40-yard touchdown run.

Before the Warriors iced the game, the contest had six lead changes. Del Norte’s scores in
that span came on a 30-yard Price to Calleja connection, a 12-yard Sebastian Puente run,
and a 5-yard Conrad Say run. For Justin, its scores came courtesy of a 12-yard Donohoe
to Tyler Brazil connection, a 12-yard Donohoe to Michael Fitzgerald hook up, and a 5-yard
Donohoe run. Donohoe finished the game 18 of 25 for 218 yards.

Looking ahead: The Braves finished the season 5-7 with three losses by a combined 10
points and recorded their first playoff win under third-year head coach Brandon LaRocco.
Among the key returnees are receiver Solomone Anitoni, running back Francisco
Morales-Florentino on offense along with defensive standouts Marcus Nunes, and Miles
Williams. Losing Donohoe, however, is a gaping hole.

The Braves proved they can compete in the newly formed Vine Valley Athletic League but
climbing the ranks will be tough. The VVAL figures to go through Vintage and American
Canyon until further notice. Napa was 0-10 and while it may not become the powerhouse it
once was, it won’t stay this far down forever. Since the Braves play in Div. IV, the regular
season is just a matter of survival in order to reach the postseason.