Napa Valley High school football around the horn Week 10

Another regular season of high school football has come and gone in

Napa Valley, CA. 

The postseason awaits in the form of CIF North Coast Section playoffs

for as many as five teams in these parts. The only question is when and

where they are playing. Both fates, however, will be decided on Nov.

10, not Nov. 3 as originally planned. Another year of California wildfires

and PG&E power outages have decided such matters, the latter being the

Kincaide Fire, which had North Sonoma County as the epicenter. 

The NCS extended the regular season by one week to make up games,

some of which were local rivalry contests. On Friday, the Vintage

Crushers rallied to defeat the Napa Grizzlies 26-20. The Justin-Siena

Braves defeated the American Canyon Wolves 17-10. The St. Helena

Saints outscored the Lower Lake Trojans 54-39. The Calistoga Wildcats

had the remainder of their games as a result of the threat of the Kincaide

Fire in the early stages. The Wildcats were 4-3 overall and 0-2 in North

Central League III South. 

In the meantime, here is a closer look: 

NAPA/VINTAGE

Looking back: First of all, shoutout to both sides. Regardless of outcome,

you want local rivals playing games like this. Don’t give me 56-14, we see

plenty of that on Week 6 regardless of league when the projected first place

team plays the projected league stumble bumb. 

This event has received much criticism, including this corner, for being

uncompelling based on numerous one-sided games for much of the 21st

century. The 48th version, however, was not one of them. For the first time

since 2005, the league title, this time Vine Valley Athletic League, was on

the line. 

The favored Crushers took a 19-7 halftime lead. Vintage’s scoring came on

the strength of Mauricio Castro (36-yard run), Jacob Aaron (83-yard run)

and Aaron to Sam Neal (21-yard pass). Napa’s lone first half score was a

6-yarder courtesy of Benito Saldivar. 

The second half, however, saw the Grizzlies take command. The defense

put the clamps on Vintage’s offense, just like the Crusher defense did on

Napa in the first half. The Grizzlies went in front 20-19 on two Isaiah

Newton 6-yard touchdown runs, the second came with 2:17 left in the

game. The Crushers marched 64 yards on 10 plays capped by Aaron’s

4-yard touchdown run with :23.1 seconds left, giving Vintage sole

possession of the VVAL crown for the second time in as many seasons. 

Looking ahead: The Crushers (9-1 overall, 6-0 VVAL) are in the NCS

Div. II playoffs. Absolutely no doubt about it. Vintage will host a game

most likely. The Grizzlies (7-3 overall, 4-2 VVAL) would have been a

shoe-in with a win but at this juncture they are in the “probably in”

category. Could we get another round of Napa-Vintage? I don’t know

how likely that possibility is but it is in play. 

AMERICAN CANYON/JUSTIN-SIENA

Looking back: This win is Justin best in the VVAL era and it’s not even

arguable. The Braves beat an 0-10 Napa team 36-32 last season but it took

a crazy set of circumstances. In 2019, Justin motor-boated Petaluma

(33-10) and Sonoma (41-0), two teams that were a combined 3-17. Those

are out of county opponents that are floundering. Those wins are nice but

won’t raise any antenas. The win over the Wolves, however, will move the

needle because it came against a fellow Napa County school that has been

pretty damn good since opening its doors in 2010. 

Strange game in one respect. Justin-Siena, which was solidly assured of an

NCS Div. VI playoff spot, played with enormous urgency. The Wolves

had a chance to create a three-way tie for the VVAL title, came out with

little urgency. The result was a 17-0 Braves lead within the game’s first

nine minutes as Hudson Beers fired two touchdown passes, 19 yards to

Solomone Anitoni and 76 yards to Miles Williams. Flavio Marx added

a 21-yard field goal. 

The lead looked ready to swell to 31-0 but American Canyon’s Derrick

Conner recovered a fumble and Kekoa Wilson intercepted a pass to halt

Justin drives. The Wolves made it a game thanks to Ezekiel Anderson’s

58-yard scoring run and Alex Llamas’ 32-yard field goal. 

On paper this contest reflected a seven point Justin win. The eyeball test,

however, revealed a Braves team eager to prove a point and an American

Canyon team that thought it could show up and win. By the time the

Wolves figured that out, it was too late. 

Looking ahead: The Braves are a stone cold, lead pipe lock for the

NCS Div. VI playoffs. They will get one home game at the absolute

minimum, 7-3 overall, 3-3 VVAL. The Wolves finish the regular

season 8-2 overall and 4-2 in VVAL. The loss, however, cripples their

chances for a home game in the NCS Div. III playoffs. If the Wolves

have to travel, a trip to former Super California Athletic Conference

nemesis Benicia wouldn’t be so bad. However, a trip to Rancho Cotate,

which ended American Canyon’s season last year is also in play. 

ST. HELENA

Looking back: Lower Lake entered the contest having scored at least

45 points in three of the preceding four contests. The Saints built big

cushion early for what turned into a defense mechanism for a Trojan

offensive revival. 

Oh, and that Ivan Robledo fellow? He’s only a sophomore and

statistically he is above names like Tom Blanchfield, Raul Murrillo,

Charles Bertoli, Sebastian Segura, etc. Robledo carried the ball 39 times

for a school record 329 yards and six touchdowns. He also broke

Sebastian Segura’s record (1,717 yards) for the top spot on the single-

season rushing yards record with 1,809 and his six touchdowns pulled

him even with Charles Bertoli for most rushing scores in a season with

29.

As a team, the Saints (8-2, 5-2 NCL I) ran for 460 yards, giving them

3,809 in ten games this year, that total breaks the single-season team

rushing record of 3,577 they set last season in 12 games.

Backfield mate Cody DiTomaso added 66 yards on six carries and a

58-yard touchdown reception on Friday. DiTomaso surpassed the

1,000-yard barrier this season and has over 2,300 career rushing yards,

good for fourth all-time in school history.

Looking ahead: The win became significant for the Saints because

back-to-back losses earlier this season to Middletown and Willits put

the NCL I title hopes out of the picture. Those losses also put getting

a home game in the NCS Div. VII playoffs in jeopardy. With St. Helena

having won three in a row since then, a home game to open the

postseason appears to be back in the picture.