Monticello Empire

Schedule/Scores

Week 1 Scores
Napa 20, Vista del Lago 28...Vacaville 58, Rodriguez 21
Vintage 20, Rancho Cotate 49...Fairfield 32, Monterey Trail 28
Will C. Wood 19, Pioneer 20...Armijo 0, Vanden 35

Week 2 Scores
Napa 43, Merced 22...Vintage 0, Vanden 36
Armijo 33, Hogan 18...Vacaville 57, Laguna Creek 20
Will C. Wood 7, Inderkum 51...Fairfield 53, Freedom 22

Week 3 Scores
Napa 40, Vallejo 21...Vintage 20, Clayton Valley 35
Vacaville 13, Granite Bay 31...Armijo 13, Benicia 48
Will C. Wood 7, Davis 14...Fairfield 36, Rodriguez 22

Week 4 Scores
Armijo 38, Florin 12...Vacaville 49, Enochs 14
Will C. Wood 35, Benicia 51...Napa 32, Casa Grande 38
Vintage 6, Bethel 20...Fairfield 14, Vallejo 13

Week 5 Scores
Fairfield 42, Benicia 62...Vacaville 49, Elk Grove 7
Armijo 0, Rodriguez 26...Will C. Wood 3, Vanden 34
Vintage 0, Del Oro 60...Napa 21, Rocklin 49

Week 6 Scores
Vacaville 55, Fairfield 20...Napa 50, Armijo 33
Will C. Wood 39, Vintage 23

Week 7 Scores
Vacaville 63, Armijo 20...Will C. Wood 10, Napa 28
Fairfield 62, Vintage 0

Week 8 Scores
Will C. Wood 42, Armijo 18...Vacaville 56, Vintage 7
Fairfield 46, Napa 14

Week 9 Scores
Fairfield 34, Will C. Wood 8...Vacaville 60, Napa 7
Vintage 80, Armijo 56

Week 10 Schedule
Vintage (1-8, 1-3) @ Napa (4-5, 2-2)
Vacaville (8-1, 4-0) @ Will C. Wood (2-7, 2-2)
Fairfield (7-2, 3-1) @ Armijo (2-7, 0-4)


 

NAPA REBOUNDS IN MERCED

September 20, 2009

This was supposed to be a monster early-season matchup between division one powerhouses.  It was supposed to be a preview of two playoff-bound football teams going at it in mid-September.  This game was supposed to be a lot of things, but after both teams fell in week one, it was just another game for the Indians and the Bears.

Napa was shocked at home by a hungry Vista del Lago team to start the season, 28-20.  Their offense was far from impressive, though it did manage to gain just over 200 yards on the ground.  The defense had no answer for Vista running back Trey Hairabedian, who rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns.  Although the total yardage gained by the teams was almost even, Vista del Lago simply made more big plays than did Napa.  All in all it was a heart-breaking loss for the Indians, would have become quite unaccustomed to losing in recent years.

Merced, on the other hand, was totally and completely embarassed in their season opener by a vicious, hard-hitting Bullard team.  Merced, a 10-2 playoff team a year ago, was shut down offensively, gaining just 25 yards on the ground and 105 yards total.  They also allowed over 500 yards of offense en route to a 41-0 shutout drubbing.

Both teams desperately needed to rebound from their disappointing openers with a big win.  Unfortunately for the Bears, Napa seemed to take their loss just a little bit harder.

The Indians wasted little time in showing that they were the hungrier and more talented team.  On the strength of a diverse running game and an infrequent yet efficient passing game, the Napa Indians scored 36 first half points.  The first quarter saw two well sustained drives finished with one yard touchdown runs by Sebastian Sawyer and Cody Jensen, respectively. 

The second quarter, on the other hand, was all about the big plays.  After a Merced touchdown, Napa quarterback slash kick returner Charles Boyett took the ensuing kickoff back for an 87 yard touchdown.  On their next possession, Cody Jensen broke an 80 run and extended the Indians lead to 22 points.  Finally, Napa reached into their bag of tricks to end the half and found success when running back Sebastian Sawyer hit C.J. Cunningham from 27 yards out.

Merced would control the ball for most of the second half with a steady and effective running game.  Junior speedster Eric Deanda scored his second and third touchdowns of the game in the second half and finished with 124 yards on sixteen carries.  Teammate Andrew Mendoza added another 128 yards on fourteen carries.  Despite their success in on the ground, the Merced Bears dug themselves into too big a hole early and had no chance of gaining ground on a Napa team that they simply could not stop.

The Indians finished with a total of 451 yards with 305 of those coming on the ground.  They only attempted five passes on the night, but two of them went for touchdowns and two others for big gains.  Although they are a heavy running team, Boyett and the Indians showed that they have they ability to pass when they need to, which is always important late in the season and into the playoffs, when talented defenses may be able to shut down one aspect of an offense but not necessarily both.

Napa (1-1) plays at home against Vallejo (1-1) next friday while Merced (0-2) will look to get their first win of the season at home against an undefeated Edison (2-0) team from Fresno.

FOR MORE ON NAPA HIGH, VINTAGE HIGH, OR THE MONTICELLO EMPIRE LEAGUE PLEASE VISIT:
www.napavalleyregister.com/sports/ 

FAIRFIELD AND VACAVILLE LOOK LIKE TEAMS TO BEAT; ANOTHER MONTICELLO TEAM FALLS VICTIM TO VANDEN

September 20, 2009

Just two weeks into the season and already two teams are starting to emerge from the rest of the Monticello pack.  Vacaville slaughtered a formidable foe in Laguna Creek friday night, 57-20.  The Laguna Creek Cardinals advanced all the way to the semi-finals of the Division I Section Playoffs a year ago and looked the part of a playoff team last week when they beat Florin 34-12.  This week, however, the Cardinals were flat embarassed on their home field. Vacaville dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and pulverized the Cardinals' defense with a devastating rushing attack.  For the second straight week the Bulldogs offense put over 50 points on the board.  At this point, the Bulldogs certainly appear to be the favorite in what should be an intense league title race, but we will all learn just how good these guys are next week when they take on Sacramento powerhouse Granite Bay.

Fairfield also has the makings of a championship offense.  After putting up 375 yards of offense and 32 points in last week's win over Monterey Trail (who subsequently shut out the 12th ranked Elk Grove Thundering Herd 27-0 in one of week two's biggest shockers) the Fairfield Falcons put up 53 in a win over Freedom.  Quarterback Tra'mayne Bondurant has quickly established himself as the league's deadliest passer and one of its most exciting players.  It looks like Bondurant and wideout Erik Marthel are going to be a nightmare for Monticello League defensive backfields all season long, but Fairfield needs to tighten up their own defense a little bit if they want to contend for a league title.  Expect some crazy shootouts against Vacaville and Napa this year.

For the second straight week a Monticello Empire team was annihilated by Vanden High of Fairfield.  Last week, the Vanden Vikings made Armijo look really bad in a 35-0 beatdown in which the Vanden defense held Armijo to just 35 total yards of offense and sacked the quarterback five times.  This week it was Vintage's turn to feel the wrath of the Vikings D.  Vintage was blanked by the Vikings and held to 109 total yards.  Vintage QB Jackson Maher completed seven of sixteen passes for 53 yards, but was also picked off once and sacked five times for a loss of a total of 27 yards.  Running back Zack Zuniga was the Crushers' star, rushing for 86 yards on 11 carries.  Vanden won 36-0.  Just how good is this Vanden team?  Probably good enough to repeat as Solano County champs and maybe a whole lot more.

After getting punched in the mouth by the Vanden defense a week ago, Armijo got in the win column with a 33-18 win over Hogan High of Vallejo.  Will C. Wood fell to 1-1 as they were beat up by one of the best squads in the section, Inderkum, 51-7.