Vintage’s Smith, Canepa, and Gullum shine at Xclusive Speed Bay Area Top 100 camp
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s no secret that the Vintage football team has so much young talent that is starting to come to the surface.
Last Saturday in San Ramon, the Crushers were able to show off their young talent when three of their soon-to-be juniors, Louie Canepa, Dylan Smith, and Preston Gullum attended the Xclusive Speed Bay Area Top 100 camp.
“It is always great to have kids go compete at camps, combines, showcases, etc,” Vintage head coach Dylan Leach explained via email on Wednesday. “It is good exposure for the student-athletes as well as the school and program. One of the great parts about the Xclusive camp was that all three of our attendees are going to be Juniors, which says a lot about the direction and future of the program here at Vintage.”
New 40 PR 4.48 🏃💨@XclusiveSpeed pic.twitter.com/I2eem82VDE
— Dylan Smith (@Dylan_Smith_33) July 20, 2020
All three of them are coming off of impressive sophomore campaigns. Smith had 37 carries for 404 yards during the 2019 season. He also had the third-highest number of rushing touchdowns on the team with five last year. At the camp, Smith ran his best 40-yard dash time with a 4.48, which was the second-fastest time overall.
“Dylan Smith was extremely vital to our success last year as a Sophomore. He is an extremely tough individual who excelled on both sides of the ball as well as special teams. Dylan was very versatile and could play the edge for us or move back into coverage and excel there defensively,” Leach said of Smith. “In addition, he adds tremendous speed to a traditionally not speedy team. I have yet to see him get caught from behind with the ball in his hands and he makes our midline, belly, and option (dive) game a TD threat at all times. Just last weekend, Dylan won the “fastest 40” time at the last bay area top 100 showcase with a 4.48 time and that is an eye-opener for many people.
“The thing I am most proud of Dylan was that he understood his opportunity to learn about the game and was very open-minded and opportunistic to the concepts we dialed up for him,” he added. “In addition, he was able to learn to play with passion without the emotional aspect that led to numerous penalties (during) his freshman year. We are very excited about Dylan’s future in the program.”
Meanwhile, Canepa started the season on the offensive line and ended up being a two-way player from time-to-time.
“Louie is an awesome addition to the Crusher football program. Louie gives us great size and athleticism for his frame (6’4″ 290 lbs)” Leach added. “In addition, for being a very gentle human, he does not play that way on the field as he compiled multiple pancakes and finishes per game. In my opinion, watching (the) film, he was by far the most dominant lineman in the VVAL and showed that he was dominant in two NCS playoff appearances as well. The future is very bright for Louie.
“Right now, we are concentrating on his pass protection as that is something colleges will want to see but we usually only practice about 30% of the time because of our offensive breakdown,” the coach continued. “Although he has garnered a ton of attention from the college level, I predict that by this time next year Louie will be heavily recruited as he will hopefully have one more year of film.”
That offensive line play is something else here @XclusiveSpeed #BayAreaTop100Showcase pic.twitter.com/X6KGmAfm1s
— West Coast Preps (@westcoastpreps_) July 19, 2020
Lastly, there’s Gullum. After injuries forced him into the lineup last season, he never left.
“Preston was an awesome contributor in our final three games of the season. He came up for the Big Game and made his starting debut as an “H” back and TE,” Leach said of Gullum. “However, with an injury to one of our guards in the Big Game, we moved into the starting role and he continued to shine the next two weeks vs. Redwood and Campolindo.
“What I love about Preston most is his mind for the game. He is a one time learner and we put so much on him in a short 3 weeks,” he added. “I feel a big part of this is the work of Frosh and J.V. coaches did prior to us getting our hands on him. By running the same system and using the same terminology and techniques really allowed us to have Preston contribute in many ways. I am so looking forward to Preston and Louie lining up next to each other for us on the offensive line (for) the next two years. I feel that they will be a huge problem for many D Coordinators over that span.”
Adjusting to Coronavirus changes
On top of all of this, the Crushers and all other schools have had to adjust their practices to the current times with the Coronavirus.
It’s taken plenty of creativity to be able to do what would be normal drills during this time of year. They were able to begin their summer workouts on June 22nd with plenty of added health protocols added to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Summer practices to date have been great. We have a dedicated group of coaches and very supportive AD in Cam Neal who has worked very hard to ensure that our kids are following protocols and being as safe as possible,” Leach said of their summer workouts so far. “This will be our last week in-person together until the NVUSD allows us to go again. We have had great attendance averaging around 100 student-athletes on two different 100-yard fields.
“Once again, we are extremely excited about our Freshman class with over 55 signed up and averaging 43 in attendance daily,” he continued. “It is proof that this wonderful game of football is going strong and that these young men and women understand the importance of being a part of something special that is bigger than themselves. I have a great feeling about all three levels going into December. Hopefully, we can get to the point where the District and County can allow all students in school and fans at Memorial Stadium to cheer these awesome kids on.”
On top of that, the CIF announced on Monday that the season has been pushed back to 2021 with official practices set to begin on December 14th.
“The move to Winter is disappointing on so many levels, but it is what it is,” Leach said of the moving of the season. “Great coaches and programs will adapt. It changes our summer in that we have to revert our “off-season” back as if it is really January for us in a sense that we are no longer trying to get “in football shape” right now. Instead, we have to go back into our program database and nutrition plans. There are several challenging aspects that will come about because of this change but we will overcome them head-on.”
