Napa fights through first bit of adversity faced to beat Montgomery in instant classic to stay unbeaten

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

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Follow on X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews 

There are some wins where you can feel the tide of a program changing. In some of those games, it’s just a team digging deep to find a way to win. 

On Friday night at Memorial Stadium, this is precisely what happened as Napa beat Montgomery-Santa Rosa, 28-27, in a thriller to move to 3-0 on the season. 

However, this win was far from easy. With just a little less than two minutes left to play, the Grizzlies were down by seven points. After getting the ball down to the Montgomery 16-yard line, there appeared to be no play for Napa junior quarterback Diego Montanez. But then, he found some running room and turned it into a score with 1:06 left in the game, which cut the deficit to one. 

“That was a broken play,” Montanez said of the score. “The backer blitzed and came down and I took it to the house.” 

On the two-point try, Yovanni Palma took the snap and appeared to be running it into a wall of defenders, then he threw a quick little pop pass to a wide-open Angel Arroyo to give Napa a 28-27 lead. 

“That’s just a nod to old Napa football, and getting every lineman that we have on the field, running Geronimo, ” lead assistant and offensive coordinator Chris Yepson explained of the game-winning two-point call. “We got set up really nice. I knew after that time out, they’d be dialing up everything they can to stop the run.  So we switched the pop and let our little Mike linebacker Angel Arroyo get out there and make a lifelong catch. (A) two-point conversion for when you could not be more excited for the kid who worked his butt off all year.” 

After that, the defense was able to hold on for the victory. This is a massive victory for the program as they haven’t been in many of these tight games. It takes grit to win the tight ones. 

Montanez also had a throwing touchdown in the contest when he found Fisher MacDonald with no one around him for a huge 67-yard touchdown to give the Grizzlies a quick 10-0 lead at the 11:53 mark in the second quarter. In the game, Montanez rushed 18 times for 58 yards. He also completed 8 of 19 passes for 120 yards. 

“So what Diego does is one have the ability to throw a tremendous ball downfield with great shape,” Yepson said of Montanez’s skill set. “He has a phenomenal arm and when he breaks out of the pocket, he has great legs and great vision. Diego is a tremendous leader on and off the field with these kids in the classroom, as well as in the weight room.”  

The only other score for Napa came on a Palma touchdown run from 3 yards out with 6:15 left in the first half. 

Napa also got a pair of field goals that were key by Kevin Rico. The senior converted on one from 44 yards out that capped off a long 18-play 53-yard drive and took 9 minutes and 1 second off the clock in the first to give Napa a 3-0 lead. Later, he also made a 37-yarder with 6:43 left in the third. 

One of the reasons Montgomery (1-2) was able to be in the game was the connection between the quarterback and wide receiver duo of Bobby McGovern and Izeyah Wright. They connected for a long 57-yard connection with 11:52 left in the first half. Wright was a matchup issue all night with his big frame that made it nearly impossible for Napa to match up with him. 

McGovern ended the night completing 10 of 20 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. His other touchdown pass went to Ay-dehn Presler for a 15-yard score and was followed by a missed 2-point attempt to tie the game at the 20 with 2:38 left in the third quarter. 

The Vikings also got a score from Quentin Perez on a 7-yard run with 6:07 left in the game to give Montgomery a 27-20 lead. 

“We haven’t felt adversity this year,” Yepson explained. “We haven’t been down in a single time this year. So who knew how we were gonna react tonight when we finally were down? But they fought.”  

Following the victory, Napa will now have an extended week of preparation as they will travel to Novato on Saturday at 2 p.m. They beat Novato last season.