The Napa High football team had no idea it would be facing a cross-town rival and crosswinds at the same time in Big Game XXXVII on Friday night.

Vintage quarterback Sean Ryan, meanwhile, had little trouble passing in the incessant breeze. His receivers just had a problem catching them.

In a mistake-filled but entertaining at a chock-full Memorial Stadium, Napa weathered its gaffes better than the Crushers and pulled away in the second half for a 24-7 win.

The victory clinched homefield advantage through the first three rounds of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs for the Indians (9-1 overall, 5-0 MEL) in their bid to repeat as section champs.

Napa attempted only one pass all first half, Charles Boyett’s seventh attempt of the season, as the Indians looked to grind out yards behind their veteran offensive line.

“In the first half, we started out with the wind in our faces, and it was a stiff breeze,” Napa head coach Troy Mott said. “We had a couple of pass-scripted plays, but we felt we could handle them up front, too, so we made adjustments with formations in our running game and it worked out.”

Napa controlled time of possession by 31⁄2 minutes in the first half and took a 10-7 lead into the break in front of a crowd of 6,800, as announced by Napa High Principal Barb Franco.

Vintage (4-6 overall, 2-3 MEL) helped the Indians out by dropping three fairly accurate long balls from quarterback Sean Ryan. The first one, on the Crushers’ first play from scrimmage, didn’t end up hurting them, as Ryan came back two plays later with a 26-yard completion to Jacob Roscoe to the Napa 11-yard line. Roscoe (12 carries, 50 yards) juked his way into the end zone on the next play and Jonny Avalos threaded the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 8:44 left in the first quarter.

The second drop came on the first drive of the third quarter and was followed by Andrew O’Shaughnessy’s sack of Ryan and a punt to the Vintage 35. Brandon Washington ironically dropped a sure Clinton Gorsuch TD pass on the next play, but Logan Hess ran it in from the 10 four plays later for a 17-7 lead with 7:12 left in the third quarter.

The third drop was in the end zone in the final seconds of the third quarter, with Vintage still trailing 17-7. It forced the Crushers to attempt a 39-yard field goal that was botched, as holder Paul Archer was tackled at the 30 by Michael Ruffino.

Vintage head coach Billy Smith said the drops didn’t really surprise him.

“That’s how our season has gone and that’s why we finished 4-6,” he said. “Plays you’ve got to make we just didn’t make. If we had, it would have been a whole different ball game.”

Ryan finished just 8-of-17 passing for 92 yards and 11 carries for 63 yards in his high school finale.

“It’s sad for Sean because he did extremely well tonight,” Smith said. “He made a few mental mistakes but he made a lot of great reads. I’m so proud of him. He’s done a lot of good things at Vintage.”

Mott agreed that the drops were a factor. “They just outran us down the field on those,” he said.

The Indians responded with a 70-yard, 15-play scoring march that ate up just over eight minutes. Charles Boyett (20 carries 129 yards) carried four times during the drive and Hess (15 carries, 88 yards) carried seven times and gained another 21 yards on a shovel pass.

Possibly expecting Boyett to run it in from the 1, the Indians instead had Boyett take a pitch from Clinton Gorsuch and throw a strike to 6-foot-7 Ben Ballantine in the right side of the end zone. Max Alvarez — who kicked a 39-yard field goal in the second quarter — added his third PAT for a 24-7 lead with 4:17 left, all but deciding the outcome.

Vintage had the early momentum, scoring on a 50-yard field after usually sure-footed punter Max Alvarez shanked his first one out of bounds. But special teams also turned the momentum back Napa’s way. On the Crushers’ second drive, Ballantine stormed in and partially blocked Bryson Daniels’ punt and David Smith fell on it at the 50.

“That’s the first punt I’ve been able to go in on all year,” Ballantine said. “There was no one (blocking) on my side. In a Big Game, everything is momentum.”

Boyett ran three yards and then 47 for the tying touchdown, breaking several tackles on the way with 12 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Along with some of Ryan’s best passes getting dropped, he was sacked four other times — by Smith, C.J. Blom, Daniel Burgess and Louie Alvarez.

“We came out in the second half pumped up,” Napa offensive guard Justin Ruffino said.

“My motto is ‘relentless.’ We linemen had confidence we would be able to take control in the second half.”

For Smith, it was a tough way to finish after a promising start to the game.

The Crushers had a chance to tie it by halftime, but Ryan was stopped by Washington at the 2 with the final seconds ticking away, and a bad hold resulted in Avalos’ kick getting blocked by Washington.