Monterey Bay Prep Report Article

It was a very predictable Week One of football for the four apparent Monterey Bay League contenders. Hollister, Palma, Gilroy and Salinas all won by large margins in their season openers. Alisal extended its losing streak to 32 games, falling in an agonizingly close game 15-14 on a 4th quarter field goal. North Monterey County pitched the only local shutout of the week with a 18-0 win over Soquel. Carmel saw its fourteen game losing streak come to an end. MTAL early favorites Pacific Grove and Soledad had difficult games on both ends of the MBL spectrum. Pacific Grove was drilled by Salinas 35-3, while Soledad pulled out the aforementioned nail biter against Alisal.

League Head to Head comparisons this week:
MTAL Record this week: 3-5
MBL Record this week: 6-3

Week 1 Notes and Key Stats

Six local players rushed for 100 yards or more - five of them were from Monterey Bay League teams.

The Pacific Grove/Salinas game did not live up to the pre-game hype. Salinas dominated all phases of the game, physically pummeling the Breakers. Much of the fourth quarter was spent helping injured Breakers off of the field. It appears that the extensive off season Cowboy lifting program has paid off big dividends. Junior quarterback Thomas Incaviglia ran a very poised Cowboy option offense.

Palma gave the dozen or so opposing coaches' Camcorders plenty to record Saturday night, including a taste of a new passing offense the run-oriented Chieftains have apparently added to their arsenal. With a big lead Palma wasn't showing much, but what they did show may give MBL defensive coordinators a lot more to think about when preparing their Palma game plans.

Hollister led all teams with a 430 yard outburst against Wilcox. With Hollister running threat Nick Buzzetta being keyed upon by the Charger defense, Steve Salcedo broke out with a 142 yard effort on the ground, tops in the area.

North Salinas earned a lot of respect for hanging tough with CCS power San Lorenzo Valley. Despite a staggering seven turnovers, the Vikings went toe-to-toe with the two-time defending CCS champion Cougars.

Stevenson managed only 69 yards rushing in their game against Santa Cruz, a far cry from the 253 yards the Pirates amassed on the ground the year before vs. the Cardinals.

Week 1 By The Numbers
54	Number of Hollister rushing attempts against Wilcox.
21	Total number of penalties called in the Seaside/Monterey game, for a combined total of 190 penalty yards.
14	Number of different players carrying the ball for Palma against Alhambra.
13	Number of points needed by Alisal to surpass last year's total output of 27.
11	Number of total turnovers in the SLV(4) vs. North High(7) game.
5	Number of different players scoring touchdowns for both Palma and Salinas last week.
1	Number of Carmel victories. The Padres snap a 14 game skid.
0	Number of points allowed by North Monterey County defense against Soquel.