Marty James- Napa Valley Register

VACAVILLE — Napa High School showed tremendous heart and character after falling behind early in Friday night’s Monticello Empire League opener.

The Indians were down 21-0, but they made a run at Vacaville, twice coming within seven points, but lost to the defending MEL champion Bulldogs, 35-21, at Tom Zunino Stadium.

“We just couldn’t find a rhythm on offense early on,” said Napa coach Troy Mott. “We couldn’t find ourselves. Eventually we did. We played well on the offensive side of the ball. But we got a slow start tonight.”

The loss was the second in a row for Napa (3-3 overall), which now needs to win out to keep its CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoff hopes alive.

On its final possession of the first half, Napa moved 68 yards in 13 plays, with Zack Scheinholz taking a pitch from quarterback Zack Sims and scoring on a 1-yard sweep with three seconds to go. Napa trailed 21-7 at halftime.

Napa scored on its first possession of the second half, with Scheinholz running 21 yards for a touchdown to cut Vacaville’s lead to 21-14.

David Hunt’s 16-yard TD run for Napa closed the gap to 28-21 with 11:39 to go, but Napa turned the ball over on a fumble with 5:06 to go.

Terrance Trueblood scored from 31 yards and Curtis Goins ran 1 yard for a TD to account for Vacaville’s second-half scoring.

Scheinholz led Napa with 118 yards rushing. Melvin Mason had 127 yards rushing and Goins had 78 for Vacaville, which has won four in a row.

Vacaville (5-1 overall), ranked in three polls, took a 21-7 lead, scoring on three of its five possessions in the first half.

Mason’s 3-yard touchdown run with 6:33 to go in the first quarter capped a drive of 66 yards on Vacaville’s first possession of the game.

One of the key plays was Mason’s 10-yard run on fourth and 5.

Vacaville came right back on its next possession as Goins made a one-handed catch on a pass from Colemen Christensen and turned it into a a 31-yard touchdown with 2:33 to go in the first period. The score capped a march of 69 yards in seven plays.

Napa’s defense stiffened, forcing Vacaville to punt.

The Indians finally started to show some signs of life, driving from their 9-yard line to their 46. But the drive stalled and Napa had to punt.

Vacaville went ahead 21-0, as Mason scored on a 5-yard run with 2:45 to go in the first half, capping a drive of 64 yards in nine plays.

Napa punted four times in the first half, but was hurt by six penalties. The Indians were held to 110 yards in the first half.

Vacaville had 215 yards of total offense in the first half.

Comcast Hometown Network (Channel 104) televised the game on a taped basis. It will be shown tonight at 7 p.m.