Brody Fortunati – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Passing attack stuck in reverse

Momentum flirted with Vacaville High School’s football team during the second quarter Friday night at Cardinal Newman in Santa Rosa. The Bulldogs did not seem that interested, so the Cardinals took it back on their way to a 27-7 victory.

Vacaville’s defense courted momentum by getting its first three-and-out with Cardinal Newman leading 20-0. Massimo Menicou produced the only highlight for the Bulldogs by blocking a punt. Justin Albrecht recovered the ball in the end zone to pull Vacaville within 13 points.

**Brody Fortunati was 4-of-14 for minus-7 yards against Cardinal Newman.**

The Bulldogs got another three-and-out, appearing to have finally figured out how to stop the Cardinals. Momentum was no longer enamored with Cardinal Newman and decided to give Vacaville a shot with the Bulldogs starting their ensuing possession at their 27-yard line.

Momentum had to be impressed with Cristian Diosdado’s 15-yard run for Vacaville’s initial first down. That was it for the Bulldogs, however, as they shifted into reverse. A penalty for an ineligible receiver downfield made it first-and-15 at the 37. Diosdado then lost 2 yards. to make it second-and-17.

Cardinal Newman was penalized for enroachment, so Vacaville got 5 free yards for second-and-12 at the 40. A 1-yard gain by Diosdado left the Bulldogs with one play to keep momentum on their side, but they called a play they had tried three times earlier with no success.

The play is designed for Diosdado to go in motion to become the target for quarterback Brody Fortunati. The Bulldogs lost a total of 9 yards the first two times they tried it and gained 2 on the third attempt. At least the fourth try ended in an incompletion with Diosdado being knocked off his feet by Cardinal Newman’s Dominick Torres as the pass arrived.

Diosdado was 4 yards deep in the backfield after going in motion and turning back toward Fortunati. Third-and-11 might as well have been third-and-15.

After Cardinal Newman’s third touchdown, Jemeir Buckner returned the kickoff 39 yards to give the Bulldogs a first down at the Cardinals’ 48-yard line. The Bulldogs tried the pass to Diosdado again on first down, but he was trapped in the backfield for a 7-yard loss.

Fortunati finished 4-for-14 with all of his completions coming in the first half – for a total of minus-7 yards. He also threw an interception.

Play selection did not matter that much for the Bulldogs when they scored 84 points in winning their first two games. When those calls mattered against the Cardinals, the Bulldogs did not answer.

Thirteen not always bad luck

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**Mills Sweany and the Bulldogs are 2-0 after a 41-6 victory over Sheldon at Tom Zunino Stadium on Friday. Vacaville will travel to Cardinal Newman in Week 3.**

Thirteen gets a bad rap as an unlucky number even though it is not always that foreboding. Many buildings do not have a 13th floor, a dinner party should never have 13 guests and couples never want to exchange vows on the 13th. And then there is Friday the 13th, which appears on the calendar once every 212.35 days.

No Vacaville High School football player wears No. 13, but the number was hardly bad for the Bulldogs in a 41-6 victory over Sheldon on Friday night at Tom Zunino Stadium. Cristian Diosdado had 13 carries for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Massimo Menicou led the defense with 13 tackles, including five for losses.

Quarterback Brody Fortunati struggled with his accuracy against the Huskies, completing just five of 16 passes for 100 yards and one touchdown. The senior was 23-of-28 for 321 yards and four touchdowns a week ago in a 43-0 rout of Davis.

Fortunati had the same problem last year in a 14-7 victory over Cardinal Newman. He was 7-of-16 for 59 yards and one touchdown. The Bulldogs will travel to Santa Rosa to face the Cardinals in Week 3. Cardinal Newman opened its season Friday by defeating Casa Grande 27-13.

Folks at the Vacaville game might have heard cheers from across town as Will C. Wood overcame an 11-point deficit in the final nine minutes to pull out a 35-32 victory over Sacramento. The Dragons will have a score to settle when they join the Monticello Empire League in 2024.

Wood trailed 32-21 after Lamar Radcliffe’s 1-yard touchdown run for Sacramento with 9:17 left. Radcliffe had another 1-yard run in the Dragons’ ensuing possession, but he needed 2 on fourth down to sustain the drive and likely put the game away.

Wood took over at Sacramento’s 42-yard line and scored four plays later when Kimani Dokes lofted a 14-yard scoring pass to Lacorey Collins. The two-point conversion attempt failed, so the Wildcats trailed 32-27 with 2:51 to play.

Sacramento tried again to seal the deal on its ensuing possession by calling a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 at Wood’s 39-yard line. Laron James-Radcliff was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, however, giving the Wildcats one last shot.

A 6-yard run by Dokes was followed by an incomplete pass and a holding penalty against the Wildcats, leaving Wood with a third-and-14 play at the 35. Luck was on Wood’s side when Dokes’ pass went through Josiah Chavez’s hands into the arms of Jace Harris Hudson for a first down at the 18.

Elijah Laui completed the comeback by catching a short pass from Dokes and dashing into the end zone. Dokes hit Laui again for the two-point conversion.

Dokes finished 18-of-30 for 242 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore has thrown for at least 200 yards in each of Wood’s two victories. He will try to make it three in a row on Friday when the Wildcats travel to Stockton to face Chavez.

It comes to pass at long last

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**Vacaville High** **wide receiver** **Levi West leaps over a bag that is positioned to simulate a defensive player diving at him along the sideline.**

Vacaville High School’s football team has 300 passing yards in a game about as often as it rains in August. A few drops fell Monday, three days after Brody Fortunati threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns in a 43-0 rout of Davis.

The Bulldogs must have thought they were facing Elk Grove in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. Fortunati’s 300-yard game was just the third for Vacaville since 2004. The other two came against the Thundering Herd in the playoffs.

Jeremy Villalobos threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-29 playoff loss to Elk Grove in 2019. Elk Grove rushed for 559 yards in a 52-48 victory in 2021, when Ryan Vaughn passed for 336 yards and two touchdowns.

Vaughn was a two-year starter and had seven games with 200 or more passing yards, including five in 2021. Vacaville had three 200-yard games from 2004 to 2018 – A.J. Hefner (2005), Ross Peacock (2008) and Chad Hekking (2013).

**Offensive coordinator** **Scott Wingert gets sage advice from Fred Jones at practice.**

Villalobos was a senior when offensive coordinator Chris Santopadre left Vacaville’s coaching staff and Scott Wingert was promoted from quarterback coach to calling plays. That was the start of an offensive overhaul.

Wingert did not have a problem with the Wing T because only a handful of teams run an offense born in the 1950s. That became an advantage because opponents found it impossible to simulate the Wing T in practice to prepare.

A section championship in 2011 was made possible by sticking with an offense that fit the Bulldogs to a T. They beat Folsom 39-35 in the Division II title game by running the ball 66 times for 349 yards and five touchdowns.

In case anyone is wondering, quarterbacks Nic Ardave and the late Coleman Christensen combined to go 8-of-11 for 90 yards. Curtis Goins completed his only pass for 27 yards on a halfback option to make it 117 passing yards.

Those 66 running plays epitomized the season for the Bulldogs, who finished with 666 rushing attempts and 128 passing. The disparity was greater in 2006 as Vacaville won the section title by running 714 times and passing 120.

The Bulldogs completed both of their passing attempts in its 37-36 win over Merced in the title game. Ricky Rodarte completed one for a 1-yard loss. Robert Bensing completed one to Dion Bland, who happened to play for Merced.

Fast forward to 2019 when Wingert got his first opportunity to tinker with the offense. COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 fall season, so he had time to to discuss updating the team’s offensive style with head coach Mike Papadopoulos.

Five games in the spring of 2021 allowed Wingert to take the new spread offense for a test drive. The results showed promise with 140 running plays, 98 passing and a 5-0 record. That convinced Papadopoulos to give the go-ahead.

Wingert can draw plays in the synthetic turf all he wants, but the spread offense needs a skilled quarterback to pull the trigger. He was fortunate enough to have Villalobos for a year, Vaughn for two and now Fortunati for his second.

“We’ve got it going right now,” Wingert said Monday. “Our offense has evolved to where it’s at right now.”

The folks in Davis might want to spread the word to Vacaville’s future opponents. The spread offense is not a passing fancy.

The statistics in this story were compiled from MaxPreps.com.