With third coach in three years Napa High looks for success in first season in a different section and league
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
For the third time in the last three seasons the Napa High football program will have a new coach leading them in the fall.
In June, Tom Petithomme took over as the new head coach following Jesus Martinez’s dismissal right before the summer portion of practices started. Ever since taking over he says he’s been welcomed well.
“I’ve gotten a lot of support from administration,” he said. “The coaching staff that I had retained have been tremendous. The continuity amongst just everyone here at Napa High and the support that I’m getting is just better than I could expect you know, so in that respect I’m getting the support, but at the same time it is a rebuilding phase so it is going to take some time and a lot of hard work by the coaching staff and by the players, but we’re going to have a successful season.”
Since taking over Petithomme has transitioned Napa’s base offense from a read option run oriented offense to a shotgun spread pass offense.
“It’s a brand new system that’s brand new to the kids and it’s something they haven’t ran here, so it’s completely new to them, but yeah the kids are buying in and they’re excited about throwing the ball around a lot more than they have in the past,” Petithomme added on the new offensive scheme he has input. “As far as getting a grasp for the offense in seven weeks we’ve come a long ways.”
During the summer the blue and gold took part in the Napa County 7-on-7 passing league, which played a key part to the players learning the new offense.
“Absolutely, that’s a huge part of learning the offense,” Petithomme explained the importance of summer 7-on-7 games. “Just after two weeks of introducing the offense we were at Justin-Siena and we were competing against three other schools, so that was our first test with the new offense and after two weeks I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they picked up the offense.”
Napa, who went 3-6 overall last year with a 1-3 Monticello Empire League record, will return a good amount of seniors to the team this year. Chase LaRue, Josh Marshall, Gavin Zimmerman, Gunner Schoeps, Marcus Lex, and now junior Isaiah Newton will all return. The blue and gold will also have sophomores Brock Bowers and Jack Giguiere on the team.
All the returners from the team last season have been a big help to Petithomme.
“We have a number of great guys who have just taken charge,” Petithomme added on how important the returners have been. “In the weight room, on the field these are guys that you know you don’t have to worry about. They take charge; they get things done, and they help me out tremendously as far as when I’m busy I know I can depend on them to get things done and they take charge.”
Napa will have a tough non league schedule to prepare them for Vine Valley Athletic League play. On August 17th they’ll open up on the road at Pitman-Turlock; their first home game will be against East Union-Manteca on August 25th; on August 31st they’ll visit Nevada Union-Grass Valley, and finally end the non league slate against Archbishop Riordan-San Francisco on September 8th.
“They’re really solid teams,” Petithomme said about the preseason competition. “Pitman is a big school in Turlock and they’ve got those valley boys that are big and strong, that’s where (Colin) Kaepernick came out of I believe, and their coach down there is actually a alumni from the same high school that I went to, so two Grace Davis (Modesto) guys that are going to be battling. They’re big, strong, and fast. They’re well coached, they’re a wing-T, so it’s going to be a big test. Riordan comes from the WCAL, and that’s one of the best conferences in the state, so they’re definitely going to be a big challenge for us. East Union from Manteca they’re a solid team, all these teams that we’re playing are going to set us up for league.”
The blue and gold will begin league play September 14th at home against Sonoma Valley. Napa will visit American Canyon on September 28th, and visit Justin-Siena on October 5th. Big Game XLVII (47) will be played on October 26th.
Playing all the other schools in Napa County is something Petithomme looks forward to.
“I think it’s one of the best moves that this area has done as far as bringing all the local schools together,” Petithomme said of the new league. “The community is going to be more involved now; the crowds at the games are going to be bigger, and then the transportation is going to be easier.”
Another thing he looks forward to is facing Vintage in Big Game.
“Coming from San Jose as a outsider looking in knowing that this community is a football town; I mean this is a football town and I haven’t been a part of a program that was involved in a football type atmosphere in a long time, so I’m really gearing up for that game to see Vintage vs Napa at Memorial Stadium under the lights it’s going to be electric,” he explained of the Big Game tradition.
Napa will look to make the playoffs after not making it for the first time in 14 years last season.
Napa High’s rich tradition of football is something that Petithomme looks forward to continuing as well as adding some of his own quirks to it.
“There’s 121 years of tradition here, so it’s not like I have to build tradition; they’ve got plenty of tradition, so I’ve actually been tapping into the local resources to see what those traditions are so that we can keep those going,” Petithomme said of Napa High’s deep history. “And then I’m obviously going to bring a few of my traditions that I learned when I was in high school.”
New to the NHS staff this year is Anthony Armstrong-Brown, who is the defensive coordinator.
