There are a ton of reasons to feel good about American Canyon High football.
Let’s start with the obvious, the Wolves are 4-0 and have outscored opponents 208-77 but sometimes you have to understand the journey before you can comprehend the success. However, this American Canyon High football ride is very much in progress.
They have beaten two teams that terrorized them last season. In 2015, Inderkum (Sacramento) beat American Canyon 43-6 and Wood (Vacaville) beat the Wolves twice, once in the regular season (70-33) and again in the CIF Sac Joaquin Section Div. III playoffs (59-33). Flip the script one year later, the Wolves smoked both Inderkum (54-19) and Wood (71-36) like a nickel cigar.
Though the revenge angle can be an overplayed narrative, being a Wolves fan is a much better feeling than last season at this time, when American Canyon was 0-4. Granted, the Wolves were breaking in some new faces at the skilled positions as well facing four teams in that span that were playoff teams that finished with a combined record of 32-15.
The Wolves were also breaking in their third head coach, Larry Singer, in as many seasons. While Singer has been with American Canyon since the school opened its doors in 2010, it generally takes time for a new head coach to establish his culture. Singer, however, appears to have grown into his role as varsity head coach very well after five years as the JV head coach and one as the freshman head man. Since the aforementioned 0-4 start to 2015, the Wolves have gone 9-2 heading into Friday’s game at Wolf Den Stadium against Armijo. Like any successful head man, Singer knows the value of having good assistant coaches. Like Singer, American Canyon assistant coaches Joe Beachum, Chris Rapacon and Chris Yepson have been Wolves assistants from Day One. Previous head coaches Ian MacMillan and Ernie Lawson also have sweat equity in the Wolves current success.
The Napa Valley has extensive football tradition with Napa, Vintage, Justin-Siena, St. Helena and Calistoga all having various pockets of success either currently or previously. American Canyon has established a tradition of its own. The Wolves are in their sixth varsity season. In its first five, American Canyon has won or shared the Solano County Athletic Conference four times. The only time the Wolves did not reach the postseason was 2011, when they went 4-6 but even with a truckload of injuries, they were in SJS Div. III playoff contention until the final week.
Unless the team gets hit by a blimp, the Wolves appear well on their way to another league title (outright or shared) with a chance to make noise in the postseason. American Canyon’s last three wins, the aforementioned victories over Inderkum and Wood along with Vintage (42-14), have moved the needle in these parts and beyond. In fact, the Wolves have received coverage on Sacramento’s FOX-TV affiliate. Inderkum is a traditional powerhouse and the Sacramento area has many of them. Beating a school from that area will resonate. The Wolves not only beat the Tigers, they boat-raced them.
Though the Monticello Empire League has been dominated by Napa and Vacaville, Wood has climbed the league’s hierarchy. Though Vintage has been fair-to-middling, beating an in-county team will move the needle.
Another layer to American Canyon’s 4-0 start, Vintage and Wood are MEL teams with Armijo being another. Yours truly made it no secret that the Wolves belong in the MEL in a previous blog entry:
I could expound on that more but I cannot think of any new ways to say it though I will probably revisit that topic extensively sooner rather than later.
Going forward, the Wolves two biggest hurdles will be SCAC foes Benicia (at home Oct. 7) and Vanden (on the road Oct. 14). Though most people did not see Benicia struggling to a 24-16 win at traditionally lowly Armijo. However, you cannot just assume that one game will transfer to the next.
Offensively, the Wolves running game is like an octopus, if one arm doesn’t grab you, the other one will. You have fast and shifty running backs like Anthony Gobert and Kama Aalona. Though the former is 5-foot-9, 170-pounds, he is also a physical runner. You have a bruiser with speed like Andrew Rapacon and the hub of the wheel is quarterback Darren Antes. Anytime you have a returning starter with command of the offense like Antes, that is a huge advantage. Most people don’t think of a run-based offense with quarterbacks reading defenses but the veer involves exactly that element. While some plays are pre-determined, there are many that are not. Antes makes the right read far more often than not.
Defensively, the Wolves have improved enormously. Though they yielded 36 points and over 400 yards of offense against Wood, you have to have perspective. Unlike their previous three foes that are run-oriented, the Wildcats offense will pass first and ask questions later. Though the Wolves offense scored on 10 of 11 possessions, the defense got just enough stops to where Wood was not in danger of surpassing American Canyon.
As a freelance writer/fan/water truck driver, I can look ahead and say 10-0 is in play for the Wolves. However, Singer and the coaches will take the “one game at a time” approach because it’s their job to keep the players grounded even with the enormity of their success.
Singer has a point though. Look no further than 2012. The Wolves entered SCAC play 5-0 against an 0-5 Vallejo team at Corbus Field. Vallejo knocked off American Canyon 33-28. Though the Wolves won their last four regular season games to win the SCAC, plus two playoff games (37-8 over River Valley and 28-20 over Cosumnes Oaks) before falling in the semifinals at Oakdale, you don’t want to put yourself in position where you are out of mulligans.
Much like the Duran Duran song, the key now is for American Canyon to stay “Hungry Like a Wolf.” While Singer did not use that exact reference, he emphasized that the team will have a target on its back. With that means every opponent will give American Canyon its best shot going forward.
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