Cardinal Newman’s offensive execution leads them past Vintage
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s always nice when you’re able to move the ball down the field. The key to that is actually finding paydirt after working to get the ball down the field.
This is what bit Vintage on Friday night when they lost to fellow North Bay power Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa 27-8.
After all, Vintage was able to throw the opening haymaker when they took the opening drive of the game down the field, which culminated in a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Jeffrey Page. Trey Sanderlin’s rush from two yards out made it 8-0 Vintage with 6:37 left in the first quarter. Sanderlin carried the ball four times and had 4 yards.
The sophomore plowed his way to 154 yards on 19 carries to lead the Crusher ground attack.
“Jefferey’s a tough kid, he runs hard,” Vintage head coach Dylan Leach said of his sophomore running back who has become the bruising back on the squad. “He’s got that in him, and we’ll keep running that for the next two years, and it’s just kind of who he is.”
Following the touchdown, Vintage (1-2) continued getting inside the red zone all night and couldn’t get into the end zone. One of those times came when they got all the way to the Newman two-yard line and didn’t get in.
“The field shortens up,” Leach pointed out. “The field shortens up, they shorten up. Everyone tightens up. When you’re in a situation where you’re not experienced at the quarterback position, you don’t have opportunities to throw the ball as much as you’d like to.”
Bailey Huss carried the ball six times and had 46 yards. Rounding out the Vintage ground attack was Dylan McMann who had 3 carries for 12 yards and Riley Anderson who rushed once for 5 yards.
In all, the Crushers had 277 yards on the ground, which shows that they were able to move the ball down the field.
Another turning point came in the third when Vintage faced fourth down and a long one, where Sanderlin turned around the wrong way. The thing that hurt the most is that the call would’ve worked.
“I just feel like we’re going to get it,” Leach admitted. “There’s no decision at all. It’s a yard and a half and there’s nothing in my mind that says we’re not going to get that. Our tailback ran literally for 15 yards without getting touched. So if we just make the handoff and execute, we’re not even we’re talking about oh, what a great call for them.”
The Cardinals (2-1) got on the board when Newman’s 6-foot-5 272-pound junior quarterback Matt Hilden sneaked into the end zone on a rush up the middle with 8:18 left in the first half. Hilden finished the night with 28 yards on the ground on six carries.
Cardinal Newman went into the break with a 14-8 lead following Kaize Steverson’s eight-yard touchdown run with 5:28 remaining in the first half. Steverson led the Cardinals’ rushing attack with 82 yards on 23 carries.
The final blow came with just 2:24 left when Hilden found fellow junior Santiago Adan from eight yards out to make it 27-8. Hilden finished the night completing 9 of 13 passes for 139 yards. Before that, Hilden found Zack Kelly with 9:54 left in the third quarter to make it 20-8.
Vintage will be back in action next Friday night when they travel to Brentwood to face Heritage.
