American Canyon scores late, wins nail-biter over Napa
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It always hurts when you come up just short in a game that could have easily gone the other way.
Coming in, everyone thought the game would be close as it was named one of the games of the week in the CIF North Coast Section by Prep2Prep Sports. Boy, it sure lived up to it as American Canyon squeaked by with a 14-7 win over their intercounty rival.
“Miss assignments, a technique thing,” Napa coach Richie Wessman said as to what the difference was. “You know, a couple of unfortunate situations, fumbling the ball, turning it over.”
In the first half, the only glimmer of hope was a pair of missed field goals. First, with 3:38 left in the first quarter, the Wolves (7-0, 3-0 Vine Valley Athletic League) had a missed 33-yard field goal by Justin Delrosario. Later, with only 3:44 left in the first half Napa kicker Erik Vargas missed a field goal from 45 yards out that would’ve been the first score of the contest.
The second half was a bit of a different story though.
After a fumble by the Grizzlies, American Canyon was able to break the seal when Kaave Gaviola found the end zone from one-yard out with 9:42 left in the third quarter. Before the score, the Wolves were able to get a massive break when backup quarterback Vinnie Espejo found Delrosario on a play where the ball bounced off a pair of Grizzly defenders for a gain of 37 yards.
However, it didn’t take Napa long to respond. Senior quarterback Isiah Newton found a seam before cutting it up to the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown with 9:16 left in the third quarter.
“It was a great play,” Wessman said of the Grizzlies (3-2, 1-1 VVAL) lone score. “Before that, we had a 75-yard drive that we couldn’t convert on and we kept having those things happen on offense. We started to get going and then we shoot ourselves in the foot.”
The winning score came when there was only 6:25 left in the contest. Again it was Gaviola on a plunge from a yard out, but costly Napa penalties set the Wolves up to pounce. Newton ended the night with 57 yards on 13 carries.
For the Wolves, the win is even more impressive given the fact that they lost Eschenburg in the game.
“You know, we’ll see where Vance is health-wise,” American Canyon coach John Montante said. “When we take him out of the equation you’re going to see a difference. We’re very confident in Vinnie. Vinnie’s a little bit of a different quarterback, but still a highly effective quarterback.”
Espejo ended the game with 16 yards rushing on nine carries. He also finished the night having completed one of his four passes for 37 yards.
It will be a busy week of football in Napa next Friday. Napa will host Justin-Siena and American Canyon will host Vintage. Both games were classics last year.
“I don’t expect anything less than hardcore football,” Montante said of the upcoming matchup with Vintage. “Dylan’s gonna have his guys ready. Our kids know each other. Both teams know what’s at stake. It’s gonna be a great game.”
“I haven’t watched them at all yet,” Wessman said of Justin-Siena. “But I’m sure they’re to be a great challenge and will be ready to go.”
