To say the atmosphere was electric would be an understatement. As their
Salinas Cowboys rumbled in from the legendary south tunnel entrance to "the
Pit" for pre-game warm-ups, thousands of Salinas fans, rabidly waving
purple towels, let out a roar that could be heard down the entire Salinas
Valley. Displaying no emotion, the Palma Chieftains walked into the hostile
environment two-by two behind their traditional bagpipe player - business as
usual. Smoke from the barbeque pits wafted high in the air over the stadium. The
standing room only crowd of 5,000+ eagerly awaited the opening kickoff. This was
as good as high school football gets. In one of the most intense games in recent
memory, Palma literally ground out a 26-19 win against a Salinas team that
battled toe-to-toe all night with the defending CCS champions. Few big games
live up to the hype, but this was one of them: a very close score, bone-jarring
hits, punishing runs, multiple 4th down touchdowns, clutch pass plays, critical
missed extra points by both teams, and a Palma fake punt to hold the ball and
run out the clock all added to the drama. And to think this is only week
three of the football season.
The Mission Trail Athletic League kicks off league play this week, with the
most intriguing game seeming to be Carmel at Soledad this Friday night in
Soledad. Carmel is a surprising 2-0 going into league play, and Soledad has
hopes of competing for the MTAL title. The MBL's top game looks to be Live Oak
at Alvarez this Saturday.
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Week 3 Notes and
Key Stats |
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- With their quarterback Nick
Buzzetta on the shelf for the week, the Hollister defense
and special teams came up big in the Baler 14-2 victory
over Live Oak. No offensive points were scored by
either team.
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- Gilroy has scored the most
points (118) in the area so far this season, and has also
yielded the second fewest points (34). Carmel has allowed
the fewest points (32), but the Padres have only played two
games.
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- The run-oriented MBL has
the top 5 area rushers, and the pass-oriented MTAL has the 3
top area receivers. Soledad has 2 rushers in the area top
10, the only MTAL representatives so far this season.
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- Palma went 3-0 with freshman,
JV and varsity wins over Salinas last week. The
significance? - Salinas has never beaten Palma at any level
since play resumed between the two schools 7 years ago.
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- It has been a tough
preseason for the MTAL. The league's overall record is just
10-12, with two wins coming from last season's winless
Carmel. Last season the MTAL came into league play with a
16-8 record.
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Week 3 By
The Numbers |
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211 |
Passing
yards by Pacific Grove quarterback Jon Grant last week against
Aptos - tops in the area so far this season. |
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94 |
Seaside
passing yards vs. Monte Vista Christian. Seaside's previous two
games had resulted in only 14 passing yards. |
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81 |
Points
scored by Watsonville in their preseason 3-0 romp through the
MTAL, allowing only 14 points in return. |
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27 |
Number of
penalties called on Alvarez in the last 2 games. Alvarez was
flagged only once in their opener against Aptos. |
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7 |
Number
of Monterey turnovers their loss to Alisal. |
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2 |
Fourth
and goal touchdowns scored by Palma last week against
Salinas. |
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1 |
Number
of Alisal football victories. The Trojans work on a winning
streak for the first time in three years. |
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0 |
Points
scored by either offense in the Hollister 14-2 victory at Live
Oak. An interception return, a kick return and a safety produced
all game points. |
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