MARTY JAMES Napa Valley Register | Posted: Friday, October 8, 2010 12:00 am

Napa High School had the lead on two different occasions in the first half Friday, but it was Vacaville that took charge late in the second quarter and rolled to a 34-18 win on the opening night of the new Memorial Stadium.

Vacaville (5-1 overall) scored the game’s final three touchdowns to hand Napa (5-1) its first loss in a Monticello Empire League opener that was a match-up of Northern California ranked schools.

Napa was shut out in the second half, as Vacaville pulled away with third-quarter touchdown runs by Quincy Forte and Melvin Mason before a big crowd that filed into the 6,400-seat facility.

Napa suffered four turnovers, with three of those coming on interceptions. 

“I’m proud of the team for several things,“ said Napa coach Troy Mott. “There’s a lot of fight in us and that was proven, especially at the end of the game when our guys kept fighting and tackling and grinding it out. That speaks volumes for the heart of our kids.

“I think that offensively, we just couldn’t sustain enough. Turnovers at the wrong time killed us, and you can’t do that against a good football team. You can’t turn the ball over. You’ve got to sustain your drives and we put our defense in bad spots all night long.”

Forte ran 15 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter and Mason followed with an 11-yard score.

Mason ran for 128 yards on 18 carries and Forte carried 23 times for 88 yards, leading Vacaville’s well-established Wing-T rushing offense.

“It was quite an honor to be in the middle of this as well,” said Vacaville coach Mike Papadopoulos.

Vacaville entered the game averaging 380.8 yards per game rushing. Forte (553 yards, 9.37 average) and Mason (447 yards, 7.98 average) led the Bulldogs’ rushing game.

In the second half, Napa turned it over on downs and had two turnovers.

It was a high scoring first half, with Napa and Vacaville exchanging leads.

Cody Jensen’s 27-yard run was the game’s first score, capping an opening drive of 72 yards in five plays for Napa with 9:31 to go in the first quarter. Jensen had a 32-yard run in the first series.

Vacaville responded, driving 87 yards in seven plays, with Hudson Buck running 56 yards with 6:58 to go. Reed White’s PAT gave the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead.

After a Napa punt, Vacaville took the ball and moved 77 yards in 13 plays, capped by Malique Earl’s 3-yard TD run on fourth and inches with 2:01 to go in the first period. White’s kick gave the Bulldogs a 14-6 lead.

Napa answered, scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter to take an 18-14 lead and bringing the large crowd right back into the game. Jensen caught a 15-yard TD pass from Zack Sims, capping a drive of 42 yards in seven plays.

After Vacaville punted, Napa moved the ball 86 yards in three plays with Zack Scheinholz bursting for a 58-yard TD run and giving Napa the lead with 6:01 to go in the half.

But Vacaville re-took the lead as Mason scored from five yards out, putting the wrap on a three-play, 41-yard march with 4:59 to go.

Napa failed on each of its three conversion attempts and had two turnovers, both interceptions, in the first half.

Vacaville dominated time of possession in the first quarter, running 21 plays to Napa’s nine. Jensen had 133 yards on 12 carries in the first half. Each team had 10 first downs in the first half.

Vacaville won the MEL title last year, going 5-0 in league.

JV Football: Vacaville 21, Napa 19

The Indians (4-1-1 overall) had their four-game winning streak broken, as they turned the ball over at the Vacaville 20-yard line with a minute to go Friday night.

“We put ourselves in a position to win the game late,” said coach Nick Tedesco. “I’m very proud of this entire JV team. The kids played their butts off.”