Justin-Siena prevails in defensive slugfest over Napa
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Dean Ruggiero (@deanruggierophotography)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Sometimes, getting an ugly win can go a long way. That was the case on Friday night when Justin-Siena beat Napa 14-7.
There were a plethora of penalties in the game that hurt both teams.
“I think the one thing this team has done a really good job of all year is fighting no matter the circumstances,” Justin-Siena head coach Brandon LaRocco said. “I thought that showed again tonight. We’ve got to clean it up if we expect to win any more games this year that’s for sure.”
The main thing that hurt Napa was the lack of execution. They had many chances to gain control of the game but came up short in those opportunities.
“We went back to what we’ve been doing every week,” Napa High head coach Askari Adams explained. “Missed tackles, not executing on offense. We never did a good job in the first half defensively. (In) the second half, they came out with those two drives and we just couldn’t tackle, couldn’t execute, wasn’t lining upright.”
Out of the half, Justin-Siena (4-3 overall, 2-1 VVAL) got their first score of the game when zack Zurowski found Robby Sangiacomo for a 42-yard score with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter.
“Robby, he’s so vital to this team because sure we can pound the ball down, but eventually you’ve got to loosen up the defense a little bit,” Justin-Siena senior Caden Parlett explained. “Robbie is such a deep threat.”
After getting on the board, the Braves recovered a pooch kick that bounced away from the Grizzlies and set them up with great field position. That drive was capped off with a Caden Parlett 6-yard touchdown run with 2:32 left in the third quarter. It would also be the game-winning score.
The score was big for Parlett who had some struggles in the first half.
“I was pretty stoked because I didn’t practice much this week,” Parlett said of the game-winning score in the third quarter. “I had a pretty bad quad contusion last Friday, so I didn’t get much practicing, and that kind of contributed to the messed up handoffs and stuff the timing was a little off.”
Parlett ended the night with 159 yards on the ground on an eye-popping 31 carries.
“Caden’s a warrior,” LaRocco said of the senior running back. “For a guy his size, he moved the pile pretty well. He’s tough. He’s not going to go down easy, he’s gonna fight for everything he can get. He’s a high-emotion guy, so sometimes that helps him and sometimes it hurt him a bit.”
Napa (0-6, 0-2 VVAL) gained their only lead on the lone score of the first half when Dylan Newman found Christoph Horton over the center of the field for a 49-yard score with 5:09 left in the second quarter.
Highlighting the Grizzlies offensive effort on the evening was junior running back Carlos Mata. He ran 15 times for 52 yards. In the first half, he was chunking Justin-Siena. Change-of-pace back Dylan Snider also added four carries for 11 yards.
“They both run hard,” Adams said of his running back duo. “It’s a good changeup with Snider back there too. He’s getting more comfortable every week. They had a pretty good game this week.”
Both teams will continue league play at home next Friday night. Napa will face league-leading Casa Grande of Petaluma and Justin-Siena will have their final home game of the season when they host Trower Avenue rival Vintage.
In other VVAL action Friday night, Vintage beat American Canyon 34-12. Casa Grande also beat Sonoma Valley 49-13.
