Saints loss to Winters no cause for panic

Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bears gets you.

The St. Helena High football team knew that the Winters Warriors would be a
formidable task entering Friday night’s contest in North Napa Valley. Winters
proved to be an as advertised opponent as they defeated St. Helena 49-21.

The two teams entered the season in similar positions, looking for bounceback
seasons. After watching the proceedings on Friday, I think both clubs are on an
upward trajectory but Winters is on a sharper upward slope at the present time.
That’s no big deal, slopes can ebb and flow.  

As a scene setter, the Warriors, who are coached by Napa native and Vintage High
graduate Dan Ward, won back-to-back Northern Section titles, Div. III in 2013 and
Div. IV in 2014. Winters reached the NS Div. IV semifinals in 2015. The two programs
have met in each of the last four seasons with St. Helena winning all three by a
combined 22 points. Last season’s scheduled matchup was cancelled because of
the California wildfires.

Though St. Helena entered the season 76-37 under head coach Brandon Farrell,
the program had gone 3-8 since the end of 2016 and throughout the 2017 campaign.

Friday night’s game started in promising fashion for the Saints as Danny Jimenez,
who sealed last week’s 26-23 win over Sir Francis Drake (San Anselmo) with an
interception, recovered a fumble at the Winters 36. Moments later, quarterback
Daniel Martinez scored on a 2-yard run to give the Saints a 7-0 with 3:43 left in
the first quarter.

On the ensuing series, Winters faced third down and eight. The Saints defense
had a chance to knock the Warriors on their heels even further. Then quarterback
Daniel Carrion connected with Anthony Jimenez for a 74-yard touchdown. The
led swelled to 14-7 at the 8:37 mark when Carrion (220 yards rushing, 135 yards
passing) scored on a 20 yard run. The lead expanded to 35-7 at halftime and it
was curtains.

While I do not like getting into comparisons, Carrion showed the dual threat ability
of two quarterbacks the Saints faced earlier in the decade, San Marin’s Manny
Wilkins and Fort Bragg’s Kailor Sullivan.

When I look at this game in a vacuum, I don’t see it as a huge cause for concern.
When you follow a team, sometimes you can focus too much on what your team
did wrong as opposed to what the other team did right. To be fair, the Saints had
their missteps. Too many big plays yielded on defense and not enough generated
on offense. However, one must acknowledge, Winters is a pretty damn good club.
The Warriors pass the eyeball test.

The Saints have a bye week but unfortunately the road gets no easier thereafter.
St. Helena hosts Kelseyville for the North Central League I opener. Entering the
season, I felt Middletown and Kelseyville were the top two teams in the NCL I. I
felt the Saints would be a mid-level team fighting it out with Clear Lake and Lower
Lake. St. Helena is 2-1 entering NCL I, there are worse places to be.

I’ve said this the better part of the last few years. Farrell has given the Saints the
stability they  lacked when he arrived in 2008. The assistant coaches have changed
over the years and now is no exception but the program is in a good place. With
assistant coaches such as Steve Vargus, Matt Cia, Nick Reinell, Steve Shifflett
and Will Densberger, you have a strong varsity staff.

The wild card is Ian MacMillan, who is the Saints JV coach. MacMillan was the
Saints varsity coach from 2004-2006 before having two assistant coaching stints
at Napa and a head coaching tenure at American Canyon. Since returning to St.
Helena, the JV Saints are 13-0 including Friday’s 20-14 win. I know JV success
should not be assumed that varsity wins are automatic but with the varsity staff,
I’m confident that success will continue. Shoutout Ian MacMillan. Of all the bets
I would have placed when he resigned in 2006, MacMillan returning would not
be one of them but rest assured, if the Saints varsity becomes big winners again,
he will have sweat equity in the matter.

SIDELANE SLANTS

• Though my freelance duties often involve American Canyon High, St. Helena

is a special place for me having been an Upvalley beat reporter from 2004-2014.
Though there are many different faces, I enjoy seeing many familiar ones. None

the least of which is my former partner in crime, Garrett Whitt. You have to live with

him making a Duke or USC reference every 14th word but you would be hard

pressed to find a better human being on planet Earth. Shoutout to the G-Man.

• The Napa Valley Register recently hired Gus Morris, who is a Healdsburg

native and University of Oregon graduate, to handle the Upvalley beat. Having held

the aforementioned position for 10 years, I am genuinely wishing him to succeed.

My initial impressions of him are favorable.

• On the food front, the slow-cooked tri-tip sandwiches were off the hook.

Shoutout Darrell Quirici and Company.