Intriguing storylines to nonleague football games for Napa and AC

While late March is the time for spring sports to be in full bloom,
you cannot help but look ahead to fall sports, specifically football.

Such is especially true when a multitude of spring sports events
get rained out.

The intriguing part is looking ahead to see any appealing non
league matchups. They can be compelling for any number of
reasons that include but are not limited to perennially competitive
programs and regionalism.

As it pertains to the six schools in Napa Valley, CA (Napa, Vintage,
American Canyon, Justin-Siena, St. Helena, and Calistoga), I
found two that piqued my interest as I scoured the maxpreps.com
website. Keep in mind, not every coach has updated their schedule
on that site.

The two that I found compelling for different reasons are the Aug.
30 matchup between St. Patrick (Vallejo) at American Canyon. The
other one takes place on Sept. 6 when Napa visits Vallejo. You could
talk me into other scheduled nonleague matchups in these parts as
intriguing but for now I'll stick to these two.

It’s not so much that the games themselves are compelling but more
so the storylines behind them. Here’s a closer look to whet your
palate before 2019:

ST. PATRICK BRUINS AT AMERICAN CANYON WOLVES

You have an established private school (St. Pat’s) and a public school
(American Canyon) of about 500 and 1,400 students respectively plus
or minus a few that are ten miles apart but have never squared off in
football. To be fair, American Canyon did not open until the 2010-2011
school year and the schools have played each other in other sports.

It’s unclear whether or not this will be a regular matchup but for now,
the two schools have agreed to a home-and-home meaning the 2019
matchup will be at American Canyon followed by St. Pat’s hosting in
2020. I could get used to seeing this matchup.

The first thing I think is, “2016 would have been the perfect time” but
hindsight is not 20-20, it’s undefeated. The Bruins went 13-3, beating
Fort Bragg 49-35 for the CIF North Coast Section Div. V title that
season. Two weeks later, St. Pat’s beat Strathmore 29-28 for the 6-A
Bowl Game to win the state title. The Wolves, who at the time went in
the Sac Joaquin Section as members of the Solano County Athletic
Conference, went 11-2 and reached the semifinals of the SJS Div. III
playoffs for the second time in school history.

Much has changed since that year. In 2017 and 2018, the Wolves
started slow and ended strong under two different coaches. The
2017 team under Larry Singer went 7-4, starting 0-3, winning seven
straight including their sixth SCAC title in as many years, beating
River Valley (Yuba City) 17-10 in the SJS Div. III playoffs before
losing to eventual champion Manteca 62-32. Last season in John
Montante’s first season, the Wolves became members of the Vine
Valley Athletic League moving to the NCS. American Canyon
started 0-4 but won five of its last six to reach the NCS Div. II
playoffs. The Wolves beat Montgomery (Santa Rosa) 43-29 in the
first round before losing to Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park) to finish
6-6.

The 2017 Bruins went 11-2, beating Middletown for the NCS Div. V
title. In 2018, the Bruins took a step back in going 6-6, beating St.
Mary’s (Albany) 55-34 in the NCS Div. IV playoffs before losing to
Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 53-28.

The added intrigue is that current American Canyon parents are a
mixture of those raised in either Vallejo or Napa, which means if
they went the private school route it was either Justin or St. Pat’s.
If they went the public school route it was either Vintage or Vallejo.

NAPA GRIZZLIES AT VALLEJO REDHAWKS

Seeing this matchup with Grizzlies at Redhawks instead of Indians
at Apaches is cringeworthy. All kidding aside, this is the third oldest
high school football rivalry in California. The two teams were
long-time combatants in the SJS as members of the Monticello
Empire League as well as the NCS. The series continued even
with Napa staying in the MEL and Vallejo moving to the SCAC.

The annual series was put on hiatus after 2013 in large part because
the series was exceedingly one-sided from 2002-2013 with Napa
winning by an average score of 43.1-13.5. Besides the local rivalries
of Napa-Vintage and Vallejo-Hogan, this was frequently an eagerly
anticipated matchup before both programs went in opposite
directions. Vallejo’s last winning season was 2003, which was its last
playoff season. Since 2004, Vallejo has gone 39-110.

As for Napa, from 2002-2016 the program went 124-39-2 with 14 playoff
appearances, six MEL titles and an SJS Div. I title in 2007. Then the
offseason following 2016 happened but I’ll only give the Reader’s
Digest version. First there was a hazing scandal that went public.
The fallout turned into philosophical differences between that lead
to the resignation of head coach Troy Mott along with the entire staff.

There has been so much change that Mott is now “three coaches
ago” as the door has revolved from Jesus Martinez in 2017 to Tom
Petithomme in 2018 and now Richie Wessman. On the field, Napa
has gone from really good to really bad without stopping at mediocre.
The last two seasons, the program has gone 3-16, including 0-10 last
season for its first winless campaign since 1955.

The two programs have something else in common. They once had
Indian related mascot names but changed to their current name two
years apart, 2016 for Vallejo and 2018 for Napa. The changes have
resulted in lost alumni support as well.

With the St. Pat’s/American Canyon, the newness factor appeals to
me. With Napa/Vallejo, I see it as “This isn’t your cousin’s Vallejo/Napa
game but good to see it after all these years.”