American Canyon uses rushing attack to beat Napa, stay unbeaten in league play

By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

When you run the ball well, good things will come. It just opens up the whole offense.

On Friday night at Memorial Stadium, this is what American Canyon did as they rolled Napa 50-0.

All night long, the Wolves (7-1 overall, 3-0 Redwood Empire – Valley) ran the ball at will. This showed as they churned out

Those leading the rushing attack were led by the three-headed monsters Andre Lopez, Isaac Anderson, and Marcus Hughes, who ran for 234 yards in the game combined.

“It helps us,” American Canyon head coach Marcellus Holmes said of the importance of their trio of backs to help them move the ball. “I mean, it helps us manage the clock and everything these guys understand. And I think we have a strong thing with not turning over the ball. Ball security is a must. These guys believe in that. They challenge each other on that theory, and they expect each other to control the ball, and (have) no turnovers.”

American Canyon took the opening kickoff of the game and went down the field to score on just five plays over 58 yards. This drive culminated when Lopez ran up the middle for a one-yard score.

Just a few minutes later, Isaac Anderson scored on a 28-yard run to make it 15-0 with 7:57 left in the first quarter. Then, as the first quarter was winding down, he scored on a 10-yard run that made it 22-0 with 1:14 left in the first quarter. Anderson carried the ball 5 times for 62 yards in the contest.

Lopez found the end zone for the second time of the game with 10:13 left in the second quarter when he hit a hole hard and scored on a 40-yard rushing play to make it 29-0. He was the Wolves’ most prolific runner in the game as he ran the ball 7 times for 104 yards.

Then Marcus Hughes finally got into the end zone with 6:05 to go in the first half from 10 yards out to make it 36-0. He ended the night with 68 yards on 4 carries.

American Canyon scored its lone touchdown through the air with 1:03 left in the second when Kameron Hunter found Evan Paras for a 10-yard scoring play. Hunter ended the game by completing 5 of 12 passes for 102 yards.

“Like I said last week with another reporter, he’s very mature,” Holmes said of the sophomore signal caller. “He understands his challenges. It’s a lot that he still has to work on being a sophomore, but I think he’s up for the challenge to lead his team where we need to go right now and in the future.”

The Wolves’ final score of the game came when Terrell Davis found the end zone for the lone score of the second half on an 11-yard run.

As for Napa (2-6, 0-4 REC-Valley), they had a few chances to score after getting the ball down to the red zone. However, they were unable to punch it in when they had the chance.

But standing out as Napa’s best offensive player in the game was Eryck Gualberto. The junior carried the ball 10 times for 37 yards while also corralling 3 catches for 39 yards. The crazy thing is that he came to the program late. But he has found an expanded role as the season has gone on.

“He came to us late,” Napa head coach Chris Harris explained. “So we didn’t get him over the summertime. So there’s been a lot of things that we’re working into, but he’s a great kid. Honestly, I just love his demeanor and how he works and how he’s just kind of embraced our culture and what we do here, and he’s where he works really hard.”

With his speed, the goal has been to get him some space on the edge to make plays. They showed this when he caught some passes with some room to work.

“He’s great in space,” Harris added. “He’s great in space, so we try to find ways to get him in space. But yeah, he’s a shifty athlete, good dude. He plays hard, and I like his work ethic.”

Both teams will continue Redwood Empire – Valley play next week with home games on Friday night at 7 pm. American Canyon will host Gasa Grande next week in what will be a battle for the league title. As for Napa, they’ll host Justin-Siena.