In the 1940s Napa Union High School was a member of the North Bay League, and competed in football, basketball, baseball, tennis and track against Tamalpais, San Rafael, Analy, Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Vallejo high schools.

Depending on the year and sport, Napa played non-league games against teams from San Francisco, Richmond, elsewhere in the Bay Area and even Eureka.

All home football games were played on Coleman Field, which was a part of the campus of the old high school on the corner of Lincoln and Jefferson streets.

Coleman Field had lights, so we were able to play our home games at night. Every game was well attended not only by the students but by the citizens of Napa. Bleachers on both sides of the field had a seating capacity of (I’m guessing) 1,500 people. Frequently, and for the Vallejo game especially, the stands would be full and people would be standing around the field watching.

Vallejo High School was Napa High’s rival. The Vallejo game was always the highlight of football season and it was always a sell-out.

Unfortunately, in those days, Vallejo usually won. I do have to say, however, that in the 1946 season, my sophomore year, I was a member of Napa’s Bee football team and, in the last game of the season, we beat the Vallejo Bees to tie for the league championship.

At the games, the Napa side was on the west and the opposing team’s on the east. The Napa cheering section was in the center of the bleachers, along with the band. The public address announcer’s booth was at the top of the Napa bleachers. That was where Al Adamo, the announcer, would hold forth at each home game. (Al was “Mister Emcee” and was the announcer at most events throughout the city, like parades and other public gatherings.)

The game environment then was similar to today’s high school games except our band was smaller, there were fewer players on our teams and the players of then were much smaller than those of today. Then football was a seasonal sport. Now, football is serious business, with players training and working out all year.

In the old days there was “limited” substitution. If a player left the game due to substitution, he could not go back into the game during the quarter he left. Nowadays, of course, whole teams of offense leave the game to be replaced by whole teams of defense and players come and go on every play.

Then, player numbers were chosen by the player and most players wanted number 7 or number 11. Now, the numbers are assigned by position.

Face masks were practically nonexistent. Only a couple of players on our team had them. They were tied onto the helmet with shoe laces. Now, every player has a face mask.

At the start of the game, everyone would stand for the kickoff. As the kicker was preparing to kick the ball, the cheerleaders would run up and down in front of the stands encouraging the fans to make noise in a loud monotone (“ahhhhhhhh”) and when the kicker contacted the ball everyone would very loudly yell “boom.”

(It was much more exciting than I make it sound. I guess you had to have been there to appreciate it.)

Every few minutes the cheerleaders would lead a rousing cheer. For example:

“Give me an N.” The crowd would yell “N.”

(Repeat for A, P and A again.)

“What have you got?” The crowd would yell “Napa.”

“What have you got?” — “Napa.”

“What have you got?” — “NAPA.” Then everyone would cheer and scream. (Guess you had to have been there, part two.)

At some point, the band would play the Napa Fight Song and the crowd would sing:

“We want a touchdown, oh

hear us sing we want

a touchdown,

Oh that’s the thing we’ve

got some great big

bruisers husky and tall

To carry the ball

and now darn it all,

We want a touchdown,

and when it’s over let us

hear you make some noise,

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y, we

want a touchdown, boys.”

It was a great song, and it really got the crowd into the game.

At halftime, the band would march and play music and little kids would run out on the field and chase each other around. In a spirit of fair play, the cheerleaders would change sides and the Napa cheerleaders would lead the other team’s cheering section in a yell while the visitors would do the same on our side. To be a player on the field during a night game was invigorating. There was something about playing under the lights on a beautiful September evening that made you feel good. It was exciting.

Go get ’em, Indians!