With transition to tougher football league ahead, Vintage looks to be top dog once again in VVAL in 2023
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)
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As long as the Vine Valley Athletic League has been around, it’s been ruled by just one program in football.
Heading into 2023, the Vintage football program wants to add another VVAL pennant to their collection before heading into a new football-only super league in 2024. Since the VVAL started in 2018, the Crushers have won every league title and tied for a pair. In league play, they’ve also lost just two games during that period.
In 2023, the goal remains the same to win the league title. This is the first goal the team has at the start of the year.
“It means a lot,” Vintage head coach Dylan Leach said of the goal to win the VVAL title. “It means that the guys have bought into the system and what we’re doing. That’s the first goal of five that we set every year. We figure if we can get the first goal which is the VVAL title, then it kind of sets us up for the rest of the four.”
Last season, Vintage went 6-5 overall, with a 5-1 mark in the VVAL. That was good enough for them to earn the fifth seed in the CIF North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs. In the quarterfinals, they lost 34-28 to No. 4 seed Foothill in Pleasanton.
For the Crushers to repeat this season, they’re going to need to do it with a bit of a young squad. Vintage will have many juniors seeing a lot of playing time all over the field.
On the other hand, they will have some experienced players in key positions. The quarterback for this season will be Si Sabbagha who saw plenty of game action last season. He’s also gained a better understanding of the offense during the offseason.
“Man, Si has shown so much progression and so much growth in every way out here,” Vintage senior wide receiver/defensive back Estaban Valencia said of how Sabbagha has improved during the offseason. “That’s my guy since freshman year. That’s a guy I consider a brother. He’s just grown, he’s shown out every day, and as my quarterback, that’s what I love to see. I love to see a guy that’s going to be leading us, just like really just every day out here working hard.”
In their stacked running back room, they have Jefferey Page and Treven Cullinane leading the way. Page can be used as more of a bruising short yardage back while Cullinane has a lot of speed to get to the edge.
“I love our running back room,” Leach explained. “I think Rap does a good job with those guys just preparing them. But Trevin Cullinane is a special player and he’s a two-year guy. He kind of quit a National ranking in taekwondo to come play football and we appreciate that and he’s done everything we ask and he’s a force to be reckoned with.
“Obviously you know what you’re getting with Jeff Page,” Leach continued. “Jeff is multi-talented, he’s not just a bruiser. He’s got some speed. He’s got a little bit of jukes to him. So we’re just excited about that group.”
Other returners include Boston Brandt, Carson Degarmo, Carson McCaffrey, Aiden Riddleberger, Adam Drozdowicz, Hunter Madole, Trey Sanderlin, Drake Sampton, Jaden Ellis, Lorenzo Webb, Bailey Huss, Matthew Stevenson, and Valencia.
Overall, the group has good cohesion as well. It makes them a fun group to be around, according to Leach.
“Just a fun group to be around,” he said. “They put in a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of great kids with great personalities and great work ethic. So really enjoyed the offseason.”
Not too many changes to the schedule
The schedule hasn’t seen too many changes from last season to this one. As usual, it will be a gauntlet non-league schedule for Vintage.
Oddly enough, the only change to the schedule comes with the first game of the season. That first game will be a trip to Walnut Creek to face Las Lomas on August 25th.
Following that, the Crushers will play their first home game on September 1st against Antioch. On September 8th, Vintage will face Cardinal Newman on the road to Santa Rosa. The final non-league game is at home on September 15th against Heritage-Brentwood.
“I’m beyond excited,” Valencia said of the grinding non-league slate the Crushers will play. “I can speak for every guy here, we’re excited to face some of the best teams in the Bay.”
With the non-league portion of the schedule behind them at this point, Vintage will open league play against American Canyon on September 22nd. It will then be a pair of road games after that as they will visit Justin-Siena in the Battle of Trower Avenue on September 29th, which will be followed by a trip to Petaluma to face Casa Grande on October 13th.
Then, the regular season ends with a trio of games at Napa Memorial Stadium beginning with the October 20th meeting with Sonoma Valley. The following week will be Big Game LII (52) where Vintage will be the road team. To end the year, the Crushers will host Petaluma on November 3rd.
Busy summer of preparation
It’s been a busy summer for the Crushers as well. This is always the case, however. After all, the summer is how a team finds its identity and grows before the season starts.
The Crushers participated in a 7-on-7 tournament at Santa Rosa Junior College and went down to Hayward High School for 7-on with a lineman competition. James Logan was there as well.
“I think we’ve come together well,” Stevenson said of the team chemistry and how the summer competition helped. “We’re in a position where we can protect the quarterback throwing the ball as well as run the ball whenever we want like we’ve been known to do in the past.”
It was also a summer of growth for the players when it came to learning how to lead. The reason for this was the program hosted a two-day youth football camp on July 12th and 13th before practice.
“I think that giving back to the community (is) something we’ve prided ourselves on,” Leach said of the camp’s importance. “Everywhere I’ve coached that’s something, I think that’s something we’ve prided ourselves on. So this is just (an) aspect of it, and making sure these kids have a safe place to come and learn the game of football.”
The two days of the youth camp, it was a pair of long days. With the camp in the morning and practice later in the day, it felt like two-a-days. Over the two days, campers did a bunch of drills to help with their skills when they get back to their youth team.
A few tweaks to the coaching staff at the lower levels
There are always changes to the coaching staff. It’s just part of it.
Leading the freshman this season is Mark Lundeen. He is plenty familiar with Vintage as he is the pitching coach for the baseball team as well. Speaking of baseball, Billy Smith joins the staff to assist. Also helping at the freshman level is 2021 graduate Sam Neal.
Trenton Bressee joins the staff as well. He is coaching at the freshman level as well working with the defensive backs and wide receivers.
“It’s been great,” Leach said of integrating the new coaches into the program. “The one thing is we didn’t lose a varsity coach and that’s a big thing for us and it’s been great having those guys back.”
