Marin Catholic executes early to hand Vintage first loss

By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Miguel Garcia (_mg_pro on Instagram) 

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews 

There are times when the opponent is better than you. It’s natural and will always be part of sports, no matter the level. But you still have to play to your capabilities even if you’re facing an uphill battle. 

On Friday night at Memorial Stadium, Marin Catholic showed why they’re one of the consistent top teams in Northern California as they beat Vintage, 31-0, in a Redwood Empire Adobe League contest. 

The Wildcats (2-4 overall, 2-0 REC-Adobe) opened the game by going 80 yards in just four plays. The drive was capped off when sophomore quarterback Dylan Skrinar found Lucas Rotem down the seam for a long 50-yard pass. Skrinar was marvelous in the contest as he threw for a whopping 220 yards while completing 15 of 17 passes in the game. 

After that, Marin Catholic ended the quarter by scoring on a one-yard run by Jarred Geissberger with 1:45 to go in the first quarter. 

From there, the Wildcats’ defense took over as Geissberger found the end zone again, this time on the other end of a pick-six just 14 seconds into the second quarter. 

However, after those first few scores, Vintage began to make the game interesting due in large part to executing their defensive game plan. The Crusher defense also sacked Skrinar 5 times in the game. 

“So ironically, I listened to a really good college coach speak, and in we didn’t make any adjustments,” Vintage head coach Dylan Leach said. “That’s the funny part. Most of the time, quote, unquote, adjustments in-game are not adjustments. They’re just what you should have done from the get-go. And all we did was just execute the game plan that we were supposed to execute from the start of the game. So there wasn’t any adjustments there, except doing what we were supposed to do originally.” 

In the second half, Marin Catholic scored when Dayton Trammell plunged into the end zone on a short 1-yard rush as the time expired in the third quarter. 

The final Wildcat score came on a Beckett Stephens 25-yard field goal attempt to make the score 31-0. 

Meanwhile, Vintage (6-1, 1-1 REC-Adobe) had multiple chances to score in the game, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t find the end zone in the contest. After a long 65-yard rush by Diego Reyes that flipped the field, the Crushers kept going for it, attempting to put a touchdown on the board. This was because a touchdown would’ve been good for the confidence and also send a message that scoring touchdowns is the goal. 

“Yeah, I thought about it, and we kind of laughed,” Leach explained of the decision not to take points when they made it to the red zone. “And then I thought, ‘What does that tell my team?’ We’re just sitting here playing for a goose egg instead of trying to score.  Whether that was the right decision or not, I felt like the best thing to do right there was to show our team that we’re going to continue to fight, whatever it takes.”

Even though this is the Crushers’ first loss of the season, it was a learning experience as far as where they need to work. It also showed what type of level the play is in the Adobe League competition. Up next is a trip to Windsor on Friday night at 7 pm. 

“I mean, you don’t have time to rest in this league,” Leach pointed out. “So it’s a gauntlet and we’re in it.” 

In other Adobe League action on Friday night, Cardinal Newman beat Rancho Cotate 14-3 and San Marin beat Windsor 35-27.