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MTAL BEGINS LEAGUE PLAY |
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9/26/2001 |
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By Staff |
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Monterey Bay Prep Report |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Hollister High |
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Last
Year |
| Hollister
scored 5 touchdowns on the ground in a 33-15 victory at
Monterey. Hollister quarterback Nick Buzzetta scored 3
of the Baler touchdowns on runs of 3, 5 and 1 yards. The
Monterey offense scored 2 touchdowns via the air in
the 2nd quarter, but was not heard from for the rest of
the game. |
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Notes |
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| Monterey
is reeling from one of its worst defeats in school
history, a 7-0 loss to Alisal. Nobody wanted to be the
team that snapped Alisal's 33 game losing streak, but 7
Toreador turnovers sealed their fate. To make matters
worse, Monterey must travel to Hollister, ranked
#7 in the CCS by the San Jose Mercury. The
Haybalers get starting quarterback Nick Buzzetta back
this week, and that will bring life to an offense that
scored 0 points against Live Oak last week. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Salinas Sports
Complex |
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Last
Year |
| The
Palma defense limited North Salinas to 96 total yards of
offense in a 31-0 shutout victory. North Salinas turned the
ball over 5 times with 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles.
Palma's Justin Cambier scored 2 touchdowns on 7
carries, and Nick Noroian rushed for 73 yards and 1
touchdown on 13 carries. |
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Notes |
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| Palma,
currently ranked #2 in the CCS by the San Jose Mercury,
must be wary of a letdown after their emotional win over
Salinas High last week. The North Salinas defense has
been formidable despite the winless Viking record. North
Salinas has one of the most talented defensive lines in
the area with Alfonso Jimenez (6-3, 285), Steven
Guerrero (5-10, 245) and Carl Nick (6-4, 300). What has
not been formidable is the Viking offense, rushing for
only 38 yards in three games and scoring 27 total
points. Things will not get any easier facing a Palma
defense that is one the best in the area. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Gilroy High |
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Last
Year |
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Gilroy's Danny
Gallo exploded for 220 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 49-7
route of Alisal. Gilroy amassed 568 yards of offense,
scoring in every quarter. Mustang quarterback Jesus
Gaona added to the onslaught by tossing a pair of touchdowns
to his All-MBL receivers Chris Thomas and Will Lawrence. |
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Notes |
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| Alisal,
with their 7-0 win over Monterey, works on its first
winning streak in 3 years. A reality check may be in
order this week against Gilroy, currently ranked #12 in
the CCS by the San Jose Mercury after dismantling
its first three opponents of the season. Some
Mustang statistics, all tops in the area: 118 points
scored, 1179 yards total offense, 91 yards rushing
allowed, 34 points allowed, 1 turnover committed. No
doubt the Gilroy squad is talented, but the combined
record of their opponents so far is 1-8. Gilroy gets its
own reality check in two weeks with consecutive games
against Hollister, Palma and Alvarez. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
The
"PIT" |
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Last
Year |
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In one of the most
exciting endings to a game last year, Salinas stopped a
North County two-point conversion with 1:14 remaining in
the 4th quarter to preserve a 14-12 Cowboy victory.
Despite dominating the offensive statistics, North
County turned the ball over 5 times, with 3
interceptions and 2 fumbles. Salinas managed just 67
rushing yards in the game, 24 of which came from a
RaChard Williams touchdown run in the 2nd quarter. |
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Notes |
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| Salinas
High, currently ranked #15 in the CCS by the San Jose
Mercury, proved that they are a force this year with a
very close loss to Palma. Cowboy RaChard Williams leads
all area running backs with 340 rushing yards, and as a
team Salinas leads the area with 874 total rushing
yards. Condor quarterback Rob Stefanie, starting just
his third varsity game, came of age last week in a 34-14
loss to Gilroy. Stefanie completed 10 of 14 passes for 172
yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:00 |
Location: |
Soledad
High |
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Last
Year |
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Soledad's running
back Jesse Rodriguez rumbled for 123 yards and 3
touchdowns in a 31-14 win over Carmel. Carmel's
Cole Courtney accounted for all of the Padre scores,
returning an interception 61 yards in the 2nd quarter
and hauling in a 18 yard scoring reception in the 4th
quarter. |
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Notes |
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| Surprising
2-0 Carmel comes off a bye week after finding out that
Soquel High had unexpectedly scheduled a game with
Kennedy High. Soquel may be having second thoughts, as
they were squashed 27-0 by Kennedy. Soledad comes into
the league opener at 1-2, but took on a much tougher
preseason schedule than Carmel. Soledad's two losses
were to D1 Watsonville (3-0), and Mount Hamilton-Santa
Teresa Division favorite Gunderson (2-1). Look for
Soledad to control the game on the ground with All-MTAL
running back Erick Salto (212 yards, 2 TD's) and Mike
Ledesma (199 yards, 1 TD). |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
King City High |
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Last
Year |
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Trevor Howell
scored on two 1-yard touchdown runs in the 1st quarter
en route to a 27-14 victory in Pacific Grove. Breaker
quarterback Jon Grant tossed a pair of touchdown passes
in the game, a 50-yard strike to Nick Lane in the 2nd
quarter, and a 30 yard pass to Phil Shin in the 3rd quarter. |
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Notes |
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| Injuries
from the Salinas game two weeks ago continue to plague Pacific Grove.
With a broken bone in his wrist, Trevor Howell's return is still in doubt. With key injuries and a resultant stagnating
ground game, offensive pressure has fallen on the
shoulders of Breaker quarterback Jon Grant, and he has
delivered. Last week Grant became the team's leading
ground gainer for the season, rushing for 87 yards and 2
touchdowns. Grant is the area's leading passer with 481
yards in 3 games. Having allowed 874 yards, the Pacific
Grove run defense ranks last in the area. King City
comes into the game fresh off of a 253 yard rushing
effort against San Jose. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:00 |
Location: |
Gonzales High |
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Last
Year |
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Stevenson held a
slim 7-0 halftime lead, but two second-half Chris
Bonifas touchdown runs broke the game open, as Stevenson
shutout Gonzales 27-0. It was a ground battle, with
only 4 combined pass completions in the game. |
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Notes |
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| 1999
MTAL champion Gonzales takes on 2000 MTAL champion
Stevenson, but as the combined 1-5 record indicates,
these two teams are not back to that level of play this
season. The Gonzales program has been hurt by the
opening of Soledad High, draining more than a third of
its student body. Stevenson, after winning its first
MTAL football title in school history, lost a majority
of its team to graduation. The Stevenson offense ranks
last in the area with 20 points scored, while the
Gonzales defense ranks last in the area with 85 points
allowed - something has to give Friday night. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
Alvarez High |
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Last
Year |
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In a sloppy game
that featured 8 turnovers, Live Oak broke open a 7-7 tie
in the 4th quarter with two short touchdown runs,
resulting in an eventual 21-9 Acorn victory. Five
interceptions were thrown in the game, 3 by Alvarez and
2 by Live Oak. All-MBL back Donnie Murphy ran for 98
yards and a touchdown for Live Oak. |
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Notes |
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| Alvarez
comes into the game ranked #5 in the CCS by the San Jose
Mercury, the highest football ranking in school history.
Coming into the season, Alvarez had never triumphed over
Palma, Hollister, Live Oak or Monterey. That changed two
weeks ago with a big win over Hollister. Live Oak is
next in the Alvarez cross-hairs, but a better effort
that the 4-turnover North Salinas game last week will be
necessary to beat the Acorns for the first time. After
exploding for 954 yards and 15 touchdowns last year,
Live-Oak's dangerous running back Donnie Murphy is off
to a slow start with 121 yards and 0 touchdowns so far
this year. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
Greenfield High |
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Last
Year |
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Seaside's Brian
Holmes rushed for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 34-7
win over Greenfield. The Bruin offense coughed the
football up 5 times with 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles.
Seaside quarterback Anthony Garnett scorched Greenfield
for 208 yards passing, including a 35 yard touchdown
pass to Tony Curtis. |
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Notes |
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| Greenfield
comes off a bye week after finding out that Sacred Heart
had broken its contract and scheduled a game with Lowell
of San Francisco. Perhaps that was due in part to the
34-0 hurt Greenfield put on Sacred Heart last season.
Seaside has overcome a slow start by its offense to post
a 2-1 record, due largely to the area-best 12 turnovers
caused by the Spartan defense. Despite allowing 254
passing yards last week to Monte Vista Christian and
producing half the total yardage of its opponent,
Seaside was able to parlay 5 turnovers into a victory.
Seaside has been heavily out gained in every one of its
games, but turnovers have balanced the offensive slate. |
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