Crusher football hopes second half was more like it

Sometimes coaches can find out more about a team after a loss than a win.

For the Vintage High football team, that moment might have come after Friday night’s 28-27
loss at Memorial Stadium in Napa, CA. First, let me establish a few things. I’m not about
celebrating moral victories so don’t even think about coming at me with that line but some
losses are more honorable than others.

The Crushers entered the 2018 season with high hopes and rightfully so. The reason behind
the expectations are, Vintage is not in the Monticello Empire League anymore. Translation,
no more Vacaville. No more 2002-2016 version of Napa. Head coach Dylan Leach enters his
third season.

Then the first seven quarters of 2018 happened. Vintage slogged its way to a 35-7 loss to
Wood (Vacaville) and trailed 28-8 late in the third quarter Friday night. In the former contest,
Vintage committed six turnovers.

Somehow, late in the third quarter, the light switch illuminated. Jacob Aaron connected with
Michael Webber for a 56-yard touchdown pass that was a thing of beauty. Vintage’s defense
also rose to the event as Angel Castillo recovered a fumble from Acalanes quarterback Nick
Kresnak, who was a thorn in Vintage’s rearend as he completed 17-of-29 passes for 312
yards, four touchdown and one interception.

Aaron scored the second of his two touchdown runs, he scored from 20 and 29 yards, to
make it 28-21. Jesus Galvan’s 1-yard run with 1:05 left in the game cut the lead to 28-27.
Vintage opted to go for the two-point conversion and the lead. The Crushers, however,
were whistled for an illegal substitution which backed them up five yards. In which case,
the plan changed to go got the extra point and the tie. Kicker Eddy Gonzalez missed the
extra point and the Dons were initially flagged for roughing the kicker but after a lengthy
discussion, the officiating crew determined the ball was tipped, thus nullifying the penalty.
Acalanes recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

The game started about as auspiciously as the Crushers could have asked looking for a
bounceback after last week’s 35-7 debacle of a loss at Wood (Vacaville). Vintage took the
opening drive and methodically marched 12 plays and 80 yards of real estate for 5:52.
Aaron capped the drive with a 20-yard run. Michael Webber added the two-point conversion
to put the Crushers ahead 8-0. Aaron showed a lot of promise completing a 56-yard
touchdown pass to Michael Webber and gaining 78 yards rushing on 11 carries to lead a
Vintage running game that tallied 241 yards. Viliami Schaumkel added 70 yards on 14
carries.

Then Vintage’s Angel Castillo diagnosed Nick Kresnak’s screen pass perfectly and
intercepted it to give the Crushers possession at the Dons’ 31. Vintage’s offensive line was
imposing its will on Acalanes as it marched to the 6 before turning it over on downs. The
Dons turned that missed opportunity into a touchdown and subsequently 28 unanswered
points. Another missed opportunity that loomed large was Vintage driving to the Acalanes
10 that amounted to a missed field goal. Two red zone (inside 20) opportunities going by
the boards loomed large in the final outcome.

The biggest takeaway from watching this game is that Vintage is a similar team to last year
but matching last season’s win-loss record will be a tough task. The Crushers, who fall to
0-2 entering next week’s game at Lincoln-Stockton, went 7-3 last season for its best
campaign since 2000. Vintage went 4-1 last season in one possession games, four of them
were three points or less. That success is not sustainable in the long run because the next
season, some of those games go the other way.

I say this team is similar in that it may not pass your eyeball test but this team will keep
swinging no matter the score. That quality is significant because there were times in past
years where if a game got sideways, it was curtains.

The fact that the Crushers won the turnover battle 2-1 one week after a six turnover game
in the aforementioned loss to Wood is encouraging. Though Vintage’s identity on offense
is to maul opponents at the line of scrimmage, the key is to generate some big plays from
time-to-time. Of the Crushers 53 offensive plays, only 10 went for 10 yards or more. The
12-play, 80-yard drive to start the game was a thing of beauty that consumed 5:52 of clock
time. That approach is great if you don’t have negative plays like penalties and lost yardage
that sets up compromised down and distance scenarios but how many times does that
happen?

Vintage being 0-2 is not what most people had in mind but Vine Valley Athletic League play
hasn’t started yet.

If you are Leach, you see the second half and say, “this is more like it.” Now bottle up and
take it Stockton.