American Canyon’s football season came to a heartbreaking end Friday night in the first round of the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs, falling to California 24-23 as the visitors kicked a field goal with no time left.

Competing in Division 2 this year after winning the Division 4 title last year en route to a state championship, the Wolves showed that they belong among the upper echelon in the NCS. And, as the division’s sixth seed, they came close to pulling off a big upset of No. 3 Cal.

How it happened

One of the wildest games of the year wasted no time looking like it, with Cal fumbling the opening kickoff and the Wolves recovering the ball. They got down to the 10-yard line and opted to fake a field goal attempt on fourth down, but couldn’t convert.

In fact, American Canyon would turn the ball over on downs on each of its first three drives.

Fortunately for the Wolves, their defense was playing lights out until midway through the second quarter. Cal struck first as Arjun Banerjee hit Luke Taylor for a 66-yard score. But American Canyon responded right away, needing just two minutes to score as Andre Lopez (24 carries, 169 yards, one touchdown) found paydirt from 28 yards out.

After the Grizzlies went three and out on their ensuing drive, American Canyon put together a solid two-minute drill that gave the Wolves a field goal right at the halftime buzzer for a 10-7 lead. American Canyon had 311 yards of total offense already to Cal’s 89.

The hosts came out of the break with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Kameron Hunter (13-of-24, 128 yards, two touchdowns) finding Callyn Brandt in the end zone for six points.

Cal needed to answer fast, and the Grizzlies did — faking a punt on fourth down and picking up 21 yards on the play. Jordan Lee then rumbled it in from 24 yards out to make the score 17-14 after three quarters.

And then came the absolute chaos that was the fourth quarter.

The Wolves were pinned back on their own three-yard line before fighting their way down to Cal’s 10-yard line. But two delay-of-game penalties in three plays pushed them back to the 17-yard line facing fourth down. They lined up for a field goal.

The kick was blocked — and the Grizzlies’ Henry Dupin took it and ran it all the way back for a score, giving Cal its first lead since the second quarter. The Wolf Den stadium, which was raucous all evening long, suddenly went quiet.

But only until the Wolves’ next possession. With AmCan facing a third down in Cal territory, Hunter took the snap and rolled right, but switched directions once he saw the play was busted. He ran to his left and threw across his body toward the end zone, where Evan Paras caught it (keeping his two feet inbounds) to give American Canyon the lead with just over a minute left.

Cal got the ball back with just under a minute left and AmCan’s defense was holding steady with the visitors out of timeouts. With 1.1 seconds left, Cal tossed a Hail Mary that was deflected down in the end zone — but a flag for pass interference gave the visitors another chance.

That gave Cal another play 15 yards closer to the end zone with zeroes on the clock. The Grizzlies lined up for a game-winning field goal attempt, but missed — and the AmCan faithful erupted in celebration.

Until they found out another flag was thrown, this time for roughing the kicker. That meant another 15 yards forward for Cal and another chance to win it.

Cal lined up yet again, and this time the Wolves were called for encroachment, moving the ball another five yards. Cal, now at the 15-yard line, hit a 25-yard field goal kick just over the crossbar to secure the win.

Key play

So many. From the blocked field goal returned for a touchdown to the pass-interference call with time running out to Hunter’s pass to Paras, this game had it all.

Quotable

“I’m incredibly proud of these young men, the coaching staff and the administration … we had the opportunity to win the game and it didn’t go the way we wanted, but as long as you gave yourself the shot … these guys truly are diamonds, and they gave all of their effort. We won a lot of battles tonight and we showed up, so I’m sure they already know for next year that we’re coming. Nothing’s going to change.” — American Canyon head coach Marcellus Holmes

Takeaways

Plenty of people had immediately written American Canyon off when the brackets were released, as the task of facing Cal — a projected Open division team up until the final week of the regular season — seemed nearly insurmountable.

But just as they did last year on their way to a state title, the Wolves proved everybody wrong, as they took to the Grizzlies over the course of the game — and looked like the better team while doing in.

For a team playing two divisions higher in the playoffs than they did last year, it was a performance that American Canyon fans have come to expect over the last couple of years.

They do graduate some key pieces from this year’s group, including star running back Andre Lopez along with Jona Budu, Evan Emmons and more. But they also bring a strong nucleus back next year that will see Isaac Anderson, Kameron Hunter and Marcelino Quidit all return.

This game proved that American Canyon has come a long way, and it’s about time that they start getting their flowers among the NCS’s best.

Up next

American Canyon ends its season at 9-2 and as REC-Valley champion, with a perfect league record of 6-0.