Monterey Bay Prep Report Article

After going 5-0 and easily handling traditional power Hollister, many local football coaches and fans thought this was Gilroy's year to take down Palma and to claim their first league title since 1981. After all, Palma had struggled against North Salinas and Alisal, two teams Gilroy had manhandled earlier in the season, and Palma's point differentials just weren't that impressive. A capacity crowd showed up in Gilroy to watch what was anticipated to be one of the CCS games of the year. But after an intense scoreless first half, home town cheers turned to groans as the defending CCS D1 champion Chieftains romped over Gilroy for a 27-7 victory. The Palma defense was in complete control of the game from the start, limiting the potent Mustang running game to just 97 rushing yards, forcing 6 turnovers, and not allowing a first down until the 4th quarter. Coming off a 200 yard effort against Hollister, Gilroy running back J.L. Mangono was limited to just 28 yards by the swarming Chieftain defense. After making a few half time adjustments, the Palma ground game began ripping off huge chunks of yardage, with punishing runs up the middle by Nick Noroian and Jon Martinez. A 40 yard Martinez touchdown blast up the middle midway through the 3rd quarter put Palma up 10-0. Another spectacular run by Noroian saw him break into the secondary on a quick burst, and actually run at and over a Gilroy safety to deliver a crumpling blow. Gilroy scored its lone points on the heels of one of the hardest hits of the year - Palma defensive back Shane Haag intercepted an errant Henry Quistian pass and began to return the ball towards the Gilroy sidelines. Haag was practically de-cleated with an incredible blind-side hit, with fate placing the ball into the arms of Gilroy's Isaiah Gonzales for a 39 yard fumble return for a touchdown. It was all the home town fans would have to cheer about, as Palma corner Justin Meir stepped in front of a Quistian pass later in the 4th quarter for a 30 yard interception return for a touchdown, sealing the win for the Chieftains.

Week 6 Notes and Key Stats

Saturday's 17-17 tie to Alvarez hurts Salinas High's MBL title hopes, placing the Cowboys two back in the win column behind league leader Palma. Alvarez remains just one game back in the win column behind Palma, and if the Eagles run the table they will win the MBL title. That is no easy task, with back-to-back games against Gilroy and Palma up next.

There is still a lot of football left to play, but it is starting to look more and more like the MTAL title may come down to the famous "shoe" season ending rivalry game between Carmel and Pacific Grove. Both teams still must face Seaside, a young team very capable of upsetting any Padre/Breaker title hopes. The Spartans travel to PG this Friday night, then host Carmel the following week.

The Stevenson Pirates are quietly having a respectable season after losing virtually their entire championship roster to graduation. First year coach Scott Hare has the Pirates playing .500 ball, and thus far Stevenson has been in every game they have played. Stevenson is definitely not afraid to put the ball in the air (they lead the area with 136 pass attempts), but with 8 interceptions in the last 3 games, the Pirates are not always sure where the ball will land.

Just to let everyone know, there are two important links on every sport home page - Team Statistical Rankings and Area Leaders, located in the upper right corner. The Team Statistical Rankings page sorts various offensive and defensive statistics for all teams. The Area Leaders page displays the top 40 offensive leaders in various categories related to a particular sport. Each team sport page has a Season Stats link that shows statistics for all players on the team. The "Stat Spotlight" tables located on each sport/team page only shows the top 7-10 leaders in each category.

Week 6 By The Numbers
586	Number of rushing yards racked up by Carmel running back Toby McLeod. Through just 5 games, McLeod is close to eclipsing last season's team rushing total of 691 yards. McLeod now leads the area with 9 rushing touchdowns.
107	Total yards surrendered by the Hollister defense in the Baler's 27-0 shutout victory over North Salinas.
97	Rushing yards surrendered to Gilroy by the Palma defense. The Mustang offense came into the game averaging 275 rushing yards per game. Gilroy running back J.L. Mangono came into the game averaging 100 rushing yards per game, but was limited to just 28 yards on just 9 carries.
14	Number of touchdown's accounted for by Pacific Grove's Jon Grant. The Breaker quarterback has rushed for 7 touchdowns and thrown for 7 touchdowns.
6	Total points scored in the first half by North Monterey County. The Condors have yet to score this season in the 1st quarter.
5	Number of interceptions thrown by Gilroy quarterback Henry Quistian last Friday night. The Mustang quarterback had not thrown a single interception prior to his contest with Palma.
2	Ties in high school football are unusual - this week we had two.
0	Passing yards gained by Hollister last week in a 27-0 victory over North Salinas. The Balers have thrown for just 13 yards in their last 2 games.

Week 6 Stat Standouts

Rushing Standouts (100+ yards)
Toby McLeod	Carmel
20 carries	138 yards, 2 TD's
Nick Noroian	Palma
17 Carries	136 yards, 1 TD
Donnie Brooks	Seaside
14 Carries	118 Yards. 1 TD
Andy Palacio	Salinas
7 Carries	114 yards, 1 TD
David Nichols	Alisal
18 Carries	102 yards

Defensive Standouts
Alan Renz	Hollister
62 yard interception return for TD
Toby McLeod	Carmel
32 yard interception return for TD
Justin Meir	Palma
30 yard interception return for TD
Galen Perry	Alvarez
Interception, fumble recovery
Isaiah Gonzales	Gilroy
39 yard fumble return for TD
Albert Ramirez	Live Oak
2 interceptions
Brandon Para, Grant Kane, Tim Sullivan	Hollister
Fumble recovery
Shane Haag, Luis Amaral, Justin Meir, Luke Lippincott	Palma
Interceptions
Anthony Toste	Palma
Fumble Recovery
Micah Murphy	North County
Interception

Passing Standouts (200+ yards)
Jon Grant	Pacific Grove
14 for 23	239 yards, 3 TD's

Receiving Standouts
Phil Shin	Pacific Grove
8 Catches	87 yards, 3 TD's
Zavala	Gonzales
3 Catches	91 yards, 1 TD
David Leach	Stevenson
9 Catches	91 yards

Field Goals
Daniel Torres	Alvarez
43 yards
Brooke Emanuel	Pacific Grove
38 yards
Daniel Orozco	Salinas
34 yards
Brian Harrigan	Palma
26 yards, 30 yards