Vintage starts fast and wins in convincing fashion over Petaluma in home-opener
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s always nice when you can win your first home game of the new season. It’s almost like a cherry on top if you win in convincing fashion too.
On Friday night, the Vintage football team did both by beating Petaluma 57-0.
“Obviously, it’s a great feeling for me and the rest of the guys,” Vintage senior lineman Wyatt Chaidez explained. “We’ve been working hard for 10 months and it’s nice to see our hard work pay off.”
The game got off to a fast start when Tytan Bradley connected with Sam Neal on a swing pass and Neal took it up the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown.
With 7:41 remaining in the first quarter, Dylan Smith scampered in for a 79-yard touchdown run. Smith would find the end zone on more time in the game, this time on a 12-yard touchdown rush with just 46.1 seconds remaining in the first half.
“He’s a tough runner. He’s deceivingly fast,” Vintage head coach Dylan Leach said of his junior running back. “I don’t think people give him credit for being as fast as he is. He kind of deceives people in that aspect. But he just works as hard and he runs really hard and we appreciate all that.”
On the night, Smith had seven carries for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
Just ten seconds later and after a Petaluma fumble, Bill Chaidez found Logan Nothmann for a 33-yard touchdown. Chaidez would later find the end zone by way of the rushing game when he scored from 57 yards out with 7:05 left in the third quarter.
“Logan’s a great addition,” Leach pointed out. “I tease him all the time. If he would’ve played football for four years, he’d be sitting at USC or somewhere. It’s just one of those guys that have great athletic ability. He’s got a knack for the ball. He can get himself open, and he’s not afraid to hit and get in blocks. So we’re happy about Logan.”
“Logan, obviously a basketball player. He never has played football,” Chaidez said. “But when he goes out there, he does his thing. He’s an athlete and he makes plays.”
At the 4:04 mark of the first quarter, Jacob Aaron found Diego Davis for a 26-yard touchdown connection. Aaron was also able to find paydirt on the ground when he trotted in from 14 yards out with 5:22 left in the first half.
The final score of the contest came from Mo Schaumkel. He was able to scamper into the end zone from five yards away with 7:59 remaining in the game.
“When Mo Schaumkel is your fourth tailback or third tailback, I think wherever he goes right in,” Leach said of his other junior running back. “Let’s be real, he not a four tailback, but he’s a (number) one. However, in our system, that’s where he’s playing right now.”
In the game, all the Crushers (2-0 overall, 2-0 Vine Valley Athletic League) quarterbacks were able to get a score.
Vintage also did well through the air. After just two passes, they had amassed 100 yards of passing offense before they ended the night with a total of 149 yards of passing.
“Those are things that we practice, so I think that we can do them,” Leach said of the potent air attack.
Vintage also had a fantastic night defensively. Coming in, they wanted to hold the Trojans (0-2, 0-2 VVAL) scoreless.
“Goose eggs are always great,” Leach said. “We talked all week about how we were tied for third place and defensively in the league. Justin gave up zero last week, American Canyon only gave up six, and we gave up six. All week we put it into these guys’ ears that we were just tied for third-place on defense. I think that made them upset a little bit and that made them want to come out and make a statement.”
Next week, the Crushers will play yet another home game when they host American Canyon. As for Petaluma, they’ll have their league bye week. However, they will still be in action when they host Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park next Friday at 5 pm.
In other games on Friday night, American Canyon beat Napa 13-3 and Justin-Siena beat Sonoma Valley 38-14.
