Mistakes come back to haunt Vintage in CIF North Coast Section semifinals loss to Campolindo
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Sometimes history has a way of repeating itself. That’s what happened to the Vintage football team in Saturday night’s section semifinal where the Crushers lost 28-21 to Campolindo-Moraga.
Just last year, Vintage was also ousted in the semifinals.
However, this was also a chance for Campolindo to get their revenge at Napa Memorial Stadium after they lost their 19-game winning streak against Napa in 2015. The loss also ends Vintage‘s 12-game winning streak at Napa Memorial Stadium.
“Well, obviously leaving with a win is big,” Campolindo coach Kevin Macy said. “But under the circumstances in the playoff game like this, it was just an epic game. It could have been anybody’s game. I mean, both of us feel like we probably have some regrets in the game that could have gone to either team. So I was just hard-fought on both sides.
“I think that’s what just made it so sweet because it was we were so exhausted. We were so worn out. And both teams were just fighting so hard. Probably one of the better high school football games I’ve ever seen in terms of kids just purely battling with just pure spirit. I mean, it’s everything that’s great about football.”
With only 23.7 remaining in the game Cougar quarterback Grant Harper found Rex Curtiss for a 19-yard touchdown to punch Campolindo’s ticket to the section championship game.
It also didn’t help that Vintage made some uncharacteristic mistakes. They blew two trips to the red zone early on, had a few offsides penalties, and didn’t take advantage of their two defensive takeaways.
“Turnovers and penalties, right? It’s the story of every football game,” Vintage coach Dylan Leach said. “And we were undisciplined there. We gave up two on third and ones, things like that. And then obviously the fumble, but those things are happening to high school kids. So, that was definitely the difference in the game, but we’ve got to work on those things and we’ve got a whole offseason to do it.”
Early on, it was a defensive slugfest where each team traded possessions before Harper and Curtiss connected for a long 69-yard touchdown with 23.6 left in the first quarter. That score was key because it would open up the Vintage defense. Harper ended the night having completed 12 of his 17 passes for 223 yards and two interceptions.
“Obviously, we did need some big plays because when we had a few drives that looked good they didn’t produce points,” Macy explained. “Then we had to come up with a couple of big plays that did (produce points), but I don’t think we ever felt comfortable.”
“I thought we played a little timid after that for about a quarter and that hurt us,” Vintage coach Leach said. “And then we got back to doing what we do.”
Indeed, the Crushers (10-2) did get back to doing what they do, which is running that football as Jacob Aaron punched it in from 13 yards away to knot things up.
Campolindo (10-2) gained the lead again when Harper found Joey Schmidt from five yards out with 2:32 remaining in the half. The Cougars could’ve gone into the break up by two scores, but with only 12.2 remaining Jacob Tabibian missed a 39-yard field goal attempt.
In the second half, it was again back and forth. But it took nearly eight minutes for someone to score before Aaron plunged into the end zone for a one-yard score to tie things up.
The Cougars regained the lead when Ryan O’Neil found the end zone on a one-yard run with only 1:36 left in the third quarter.
Vintage’s final score of the game came when Bill Chaidez had a seven-yard touchdown run with 8:12 left in the contest.
In next week’s CIF North Coast Section Division 2 championship game, Campolindo will face Clayton Valley Charter of Concord at Pittsburg High School at 7 p.m. To view the full bracket go here.
It’s not the first time the Cougars have faced the Eagles. Just a year ago, the two teams used to play each other in the Diablo Athletic League.
“They’ve been in our league the last few years,” Macy said. “They’re not this year. And we sort of know what they’re about. It’s going to be tough, it’s just going to be tough. We’re going to just enjoy what we’ve got tonight, and we’ll regroup and figure out how we do the best we can next week, but at least our kids show they’ll fight.”
As for Vintage, their season is now over. But the senior class will be going out after winning back-to-back Vine Valley Athletic League titles, all while compiling a 20-4 record over their four years.
“Well, these seniors right now or are 20 and four and I don’t know when the last time (is) two classes have been 20 and four,” Leach said. “So around here so this is a good thing for us. The future’s bright, and you know we’ll be hopefully doing the same thing the following year.”
