Vintage opens league play with statement victory over Casa Grande
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thomspon (Shamboozled.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Once league play started, we knew it wouldn’t be too long before the floodgates opened for the Vintage football team.
But man, they straight up made a statement by beating Casa Grande-Petaluma 41-19 in the league opener on Friday night at Napa Memorial Stadium.
There was no doubt that the Crushers (2-3 overall, 1-0 VVAL) had this game circled after Casa Grande handed the hosts their lone league post last season in Petaluma by a score of 46-44.
“It was huge for us, and we were laser-focused this week,” Vintage senior signal-caller Elias Alvarez said of the importance of the contest. “I think some of the guys needed this. This win is huge for us. To win like we did coming off our few losses that’s huge.”
The game changed at the 2:36 mark of the first quarter when Matt Ackman scooped up a fumble by Gauchos’ running back Ryder Jacobson and scored from 40 yards out to give Vintage a 14-6 lead.
“Matt Ackman is a beast,” Vintage head coach Dylan Leach said of the momentum-changing play. “He’s a weight room kid. He’s an academic kid. He does everything we ask him. He played a little bit of a decoy role tonight. As far as we knew they were going to line big 51 (Kodi Cornelius) up against him. He’s just a great kid and he deserves all that. He works hard. He’s a captain, and he’s a great student-athlete.”
In the opening drive of the game, Jacobson found the end zone on an 18-yard connection from Wyatt Abramson.
The game was also the return of Alvarez being back under center after getting injured in the opener against San Ramon Valley back in August.
In his return game, Alvarez took full charge of the offense. He ran for 206 yards on 16 carries and had three trips to the end zone. All of his three scores were from a way out. His first score came at the 7:24 mark in the first where he scampered in from 57 yards out. Then, with 9:34 left in the first half, he scored from 24 yards away. The last score was a 54-yard run that all but ended the game with just 7:45 left.
“The first one, I actually missed the hole in it,” Alvarez explained. “My first initial thought was ‘dang it, I missed the hole.’ I was like, ‘well, I’ve just got to make up for it.’ So one stiff arm and you kind of see lanes open up and you see green grass. Then my eyes kind of lit up, and I was like ‘oh, here we go.’ Then I just got around the edge I guess.”
Vintage also got scores from Jefferey Page and Riley Anderson. Page plowed into the end zone with 3:39 left in the third. Anderson scored with just 43.2 ticks left in the third on a long 38-yard scamper.
“When he makes great decisions in this offense, that’s how we’ll roll,” Leach said of Alvarez. “The triple option, it goes as the quarterback goes. As long as he makes the right decisions, we’ll be fine.”
The Gauchos (2-2, 0-1 VVAL) also scored with 6:51 left in the half when Abramson found Spencer Almond for a 34-yard connection. Casa Grande’s final score came with 10:01 left in the contest when Abramson found Clint Rea for a 14-yard score.
Vintage also showed a massive improvement on defense. They were able to sack Abramson three times and intercept him once. The Crushers also made a goal-line stand in the contest that kept momentum on the hosts’ sideline.
Both teams will be back in action next week. However, Casa Grande will have the league bye and host Ukiah. As for Vintage, they’ll take a trip to Petaluma to face the Trojans. Both games start at 7 pm.
In other VVAL action Friday night, Petaluma beat Justin-Siena 21-6 and American Canyon thumped Sonoma Valley 57-7.
