Vacaville has five high school football teams – Vacaville. Will C. Wood, Vacaville Christian, Vanden and Kairos. Vanden is in Fairfield, but the Vikings might as well call Vacaville home given how many students they draw from the 95687 zip code. Kairos added football with the new eight-man format.
Four of the five teams won Friday. Vacaville earned its first victory after two losses with a 20-14 win at Casa Grande. Wood surpassed its win total in 2024 by shutting out Sheldon 28-0 to improve to 2-1. Vanden is 3-0 and has won 12 consecutive games since losing to Vacaville 31-13 last Oct. 4.
Vacaville Christian is playing eight-man football and has yet to allow a point in wins over Kairos (59-0) and Aspire Stockton Secondary Academy (40-0). Kairos forfeited to Delta instead of going to Clarksburg with 11 freshmen and five juniors. And the Patriots are hurting after a disastrous debut.
Their plight is reminiscent of Wood playing varsity football without seniors in 1990, the third year of the Wildcats’ transformation from a middle school. Wood went 0-10, starting with a loss to a Florin team also without seniors and ending with a 60-0 loss to Vacaville in the first Black and Blue Bowl.
Speaking of Vacaville, the Bulldogs bounced back after losing to Atwater and West Park by winning at Casa Grande. The trip to Petaluma was successful, but it was hardly as enticing as the battles against Oak Ridge and Granite Bay in recent seasons. Win or lose, those games were worth the price of admission and then some.
Winning those games became more difficult for Vacaville, however. A 17-14 loss to Granite Bay last season was the Bulldogs’ fourth in a row to the Grizzlies. Vacaville was 1-6 against Oak Ridge with ex-Bulldog Eric Cavaliere as the Trojans head coach. Oak Ridge made 1-7 in 2022 with a 62-0 rout.
Wood and Vacaville will be home Friday to play Vintage and El Cerrito, respectively. Vanden and Vacaville Christian will travel to Campolindo and Foresthill, respectively. Kairos is reworking its schedule and found a comparable opponent in Tomales. The Patriots will hit the road Thursday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Safety Rex Connors became the career leader in tackles for UC Davis with eight in the 70-10 loss at Washington on Saturday. The senior would have already surpassed Kris Spraker, who held the record for 25 years, if statistics from the Aug. 23 game against Mercer counted.
Connors had 12 tackles against Mercer, but lightning forced the FCS Kickoff Classic to be halted in the fourth quarter and eventually canceled. He had 15 tackles at Utah Tech on Aug. 30, the 15th game of his career with at least 10. His career high is 17 (South Dakota State in 2022 and Montana in 2023).
— Sacramento State lost 20-17 at Nevada on Saturday when two touchdowns in the final minute were nullified by penalties. Right guard Jose Soto was called for holding on quarterback Cardell Williams’ 9-yard scoring run and drew another flag when Damian Henderson II scored on a screen play.
The Hornets tried to tie it on a 42-yard field goal by Grant Meadors, but his kick was wide left. Do not be alarmed if these names are not familiar. Williams transferred from Tulsa, Henderson is from Colorado State and Meadors is from Oregon. Anyone is welcome these days at Sacramento State.
— Kalani Mcleod is still a Viking, but the Vanden High graduate is now throwing passes at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. He threw for five touchdowns and ran for one Saturday in the Vikings’ 44-30 win over American River. Mcleod was 16-of-24 for 353 yards and averaged 14.7 yards per attempt.
