Napa High soars past Skyline to go to 4-1
By ERIN LAWLEY
Register Sports Writer
OAKLAND — The momentum the Napa High football team has could be unstoppable. At least it was Friday night.
The Indians put up five touchdowns over three quarters to notch their third straight win in a 31-13 victory over Skyline on the road.
“I’m very happy with our overall intensity as a team,” head coach Troy Mott said. “Our sidelines were in the game. The kids understood situations, we were able to play a lot of kids and run a lot of packages. It’s nice to see a team effort with everyone contributing.”
Napa (4-1 overall) was stellar on all three sides of the ball. Running back and kick returner Jake Croxdale started the game off with a 74-yard kickoff return to put the Indians on the 24-yard line.
Four plays later, Napa was on the board after quarterback Ted LeMasters rushed for a 1-yard score.
Croxdale came up huge later in the first quarter after Napa couldn’t manage a first down on the 36-yard line. On fourth-and-8, LeMasters faked a keeper to the right while Croxdale found a clear path into the end zone with 1:08 left in the quarter to give Napa a 12-0 lead. Stephen Oja’s PAT was good and the Indians were ahead 13-0.
On defense the Indians had outside linebacker Linden Fowler back, who has been sidelined the last two weeks due to a hip pointer. He was key on many tackles and also had two carries for six yards.
The Titans managed to break through the Indian defense for a 5-yard touchdown pass from Andre Christian Jr. to Michael Snead with 8:31 left in the first half. Jason Burgos’ kick was good and Skyline was within seven at 13-7.
Napa’s next score came on a 7-yard pass from LeMasters to Croxdale to go up 19-7. LeMasters was 5-of-11 for 68 yards.
After the kickoff, Skyline scurried up field but after three incomplete passes, Christian attempted a fourth, but it went into the hands of Ryan Kostecka on the Titans’ 15-yard line. Kostecka was tackled on the 1-yard line and LeMasters ran it in again to go up 25-7.
Midway through the fourth quarter David Gladieaux intercepted another bad pass from Christian for a 41-yard return. After two runs each from Croxdale and John Boyett, Croxdale took his 11th carry into the end zone for another six yards and his third overall touchdown. He ran for 72 yards on 11 carries while Boyett was a workhorse with 106 yards on 17 runs.
On second-and-goal, the Titans had just five seconds on the clock. Christian’s pass to Jordan Norris was good for another six points, but an extra point wasn’t attempted due to time restrictions. Christian was 11-for-33 for 171 yards with two touchdowns and two picks.
• Napa JV 35, Skyline 0
Friday night was the first time this season the Indians (3-1-1) shut out their opponent. A 55-yard pass from Clinton Gorsuch to Brandon Washington gave Napa its first touchdown and Daniel Burgess’ 2-point run put the score at 8-0.
Burgess ran into the end zone again, this time for an 11-yard plus score to go up 14-0. In the third quarter Burgess recovered a fumble and ran it in for a 20-yard touchdown. Steven Nagy rushed for 52 yards and Eddie Fernandez’s second PAT was good to put the Indians ahead 28-0.
Drew Alves scored Napa’s final touchdown on a 20-yard run complemented by another Fernandez PAT.
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vanessa h. wrote on Oct 7, 2006 5:29 PM: