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MBL BEGINS LEAGUE PLAY |
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9/14/2001 |
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By Staff |
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Monterey Bay Prep Report |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Salinas Sports
Complex |
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Last
Year |
| Gilroy
amassed 555 yards of total offense against the Vikings
in a 49-20 victory. The Mustangs averaged 10.6 yards per
play, and Danny Gallo ran for a eye-popping 292 yards
and 3 touchdowns. The Vikings moved the ball well
themselves, racking up 343 yards of total offense, but
three big interceptions did not help their cause. |
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Notes |
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| North
Salinas turned the ball over 7 times last week against
San Lorenzo Valley, but a very strong showing by the
Viking defense kept the game close. The North Salinas
offense was held to an anemic 75 total yards. Gilroy, on
the other hand, ran through Mission San Jose like a hot
knife through butter. Gilroy averaged 24 yards per carry
in their blowout victory. For this game to stay close,
the North Salinas offense has to take care of the ball,
generate some yards with long drives, and keep Gilroy's
powerful offense off of the field. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Morro Bay |
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Last
Year |
| King
City was held to 4 first downs and 35 total yards of
offense in a 11-0 loss to Morro Bay. The Pirates kept
the ball on the ground, running for 216 yards on 44
attempts. Two interceptions and a fumble recovery kept
the game close for King City. |
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Notes |
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| Morro
Bay, a member of the CIF Southern Section, belongs to
the Los Padres League. In their opener, the Pirates
ended up with a 7-7 tie to host Shafter High. Morro
Bay's lone score came on a 64 yard pass play from
quarterback Adam VanCoops to fullback Joe Garcia. Not
counting the big play, Morro
Bay only managed 135 yards of offense against
Shafter. Against Monte Vista Christian last week, King
City could only manage 126 yards of total offense. This
looks to be a another defensive struggle. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Breaker Stadium |
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Last
Year |
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Pacific Grove went
to the air early and often in a 31-16 victory over
Harbor. John Grant lit the Pirates up with a 98 yard
scoring strike midway through the second quarter for the
first score of the game, and ended up with 210 passing
yards and 3 touchdowns. Despite allowing 177 yards
rushing and a touchdown to Harbor's record setting Calvin
Keyser-Allen, the Breakers were able to jump out early
and put the game out of reach. |
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Notes |
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| Pacific
Grove was dominated in all phases of the game last week
against Salinas High. The Breakers were held to 24 yards
rushing on 32 attempts - an average of 0.75 yards per
carry. When quarterback John Grant wasn't running for
his life, his receivers were dropping balls. Phil Shin
had a very quiet 93 receiving yards. With the physical
pounding taken by the Breakers, it will be interesting to see how they bounce back. The good news for the
Breakers is that they will not see another team with the
size and speed of Salinas, especially in the MTAL. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:00 |
Location: |
Seaside High |
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Last
Year |
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Seaside held Aptos
scoreless for 3 quarters in an eventual 28-8 victory in
Aptos. Seaside quarterback Anthony Garnett ran for two
touchdowns in the game. A stingy Spartan defense limited
Aptos to 113 total yards of offense. Seaside was called
for 11 penalties for a total of 105 yards. 41 of
Seaside's 48 plays from scrimmage were on the ground. |
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Notes |
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| Having
lost so many starters to graduation, Seaside had to be
bolstered with their rivalry victory over Monterey last
week. Monterey nearly doubled Seaside's offensive
output, but four key turnovers and 11 penalties for 100
yards hampered the Toreadors. Seaside will have to
contain Aptos' dangerous Dan
Stevens, who accounted for all of the Mariner's scoring
last week with an 86 yard kickoff return and a 1 yard
touchdown run in a 36-12 loss to Alvarez. Aptos was
vulnerable to the run, allowing 314 rushing yards to
Alvarez. Seaside must limit their penalties - the
Spartans were flagged 10 times for 90 penalty yards. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Alisal High |
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Last
Year |
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Christian Taylor
had touchdown runs of 64 and 53 yards in a Salinas High
40-6 victory over Alisal. Five different ball carriers
scored for the Cowboys as they amassed 434 yards on the
ground. Salinas only punted once in the game. |
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Notes |
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| It
will not be easy for Alisal to break their 32 game
losing streak now that MBL league play begins,
especially against a Salinas High team that
realistically looks like they could challenge for the
MBL title this year. Both teams played MTAL title
contenders last week - Salinas High rolled over Pacific
Grove 35-3, while Alisal lost a 15-14 heartbreaker to
Soledad. Alisal does look much improved this year, in
one game scoring half of last seasons point total and
holding Soledad to 225 yards of offense. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:00 |
Location: |
Watsonville High |
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Last
Year |
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In one of the
seasons most exciting games, Watsonville scored on a 28
yard A.J. Avila to Alberto Garcia pass play with 2:17
left in the fourth quarter to pull out a 21-15 victory
in Gonzales. Gonzales had pulled ahead 15-13, but the 'Catz
were able to pull the game out with the late touchdown
pass that saw them move 80 yards in two plays. |
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Notes |
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| Watsonville
looked like world beaters in their 35-0 thumping of
Greenfield last week. The Spartans will have to contain
Watsonville quarterback Jake Linney, who scored four
touchdowns on 11 carries last week against Greenfield,
as well as Drew Milczarek, who ran for 175 yards on 18
carries. Watsonville had 385 total yards on the ground,
with a whopping 56 rushing attempts. |
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| Game
Time: |
7:30 |
Location: |
Soledad High |
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Last
Year |
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Teams did not
play. |
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Notes |
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| Soledad
will have their hands full with Gunderson, who rolled
over Pioneer 33-7 last week. Gunderson
lost All-American running back Jason Harrison to UCLA,
but appear loaded on defense this year. Defensive End
Gary Lovely, the Blossom Valley League sophomore of the
year, will be very difficult to contain. Two All-League
second team defensive backs return in the form of Greg
Lovely and Martell Heffner. Soledad's Erick Salto and
Michael Ledesma each ran for 100 yards and a touchdown
in the Aztec's 15-14 win against Alisal. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
Monterey High |
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Last
Year |
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Palma's Justin
Cambier scored three touchdowns, and 14 Chieftain ball
carriers ran for 380 yards in a 49-6 bruising of
Monterey. Palma quarterback Luis Amaral passed for two
scores, and ran for one touchdown in the victory. Four
Monterey turnovers and 80 penalty yards added to the
Toreador woes. |
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Notes |
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| Monterey's
loss to a rebuilding Seaside team does bode well for
them in their league opener against area power Palma.
Monterey's 6-0 220 pound Curtis Freeman, who had nine
carries for 74 yards and a touchdown last week against
Seaside, is a breakaway threat for the Toreadors, but no
team in the area has the team speed of Palma. Monterey
quarterback Dave Phillips will have to limit the
turnovers if Monterey has any chance of keeping this
game close, something the Toreadors have not been able
to do since Palma entered the MBL three years ago. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
Carmel High |
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Last
Year |
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Carmel lost a
close 19-14 contest last year at Santa Cruz High.
Carmel's Toby McLeod rushed for 117 yards on 28 carries,
but the Padres could not overcome a third quarter that
saw Santa Cruz score 19 unanswered points. |
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Notes |
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| Carmel
opened a few MTAL eyes with their 22-13 opening
season victory over Harbor. Dating back to 1999, the
Padres had lost their previous 14 games. Carmel running
back Toby McLeod and quarterback Pat Johnson both had
big games against Harbor - McCleod had 90 yards and two
touchdowns on the ground, while Johnson threw for 189
yards and a touchdown. Carmel faces a Santa Cruz defense
that pitched a shutout last week against Stevenson. If
Carmel is to continue its new winning streak, they will
have to contain Santa Cruz's dangerous receiver Reuben
Miller, who torched Stevenson last week for 100 yards
receiving and a touchdown. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
NMC High |
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Last
Year |
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North Monterey
County won a hard fought 28-12 opener against Live Oak
in Morgan Hill. Evan Oliver had a big night for the
Condors, rushing for 168 yards and one touchdown on just
6 carries. Three big turnovers cost the Acorns. |
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Notes |
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| Coming
into this game, the number zero plays a prominent role:
North County has not allowed any points, and Live Oak
has not scored any points. Live Oak lost 26-0 two weeks
ago to Mitty and have had two weeks to think about it.
North County shut out Soquel 18-0. Live Oak's All League
running back Donnie Murphy was held to 27 yards on 12
carries by Mitty. North County will have to contain
Murphy as well to win their league opener. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
San Jose |
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Last
Year |
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Teams did not
play. |
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Notes |
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| Greenfield
was beat for 4 rushing touchdowns last week by
Watsonville quarterback Jake Linney. That is not good
news, considering what San Jose's dangerous quarterback
Raul Sandoval did to Gonzales last Friday night.
Sandoval was 11-15 passing for 123 yards and a
touchdown, and also ran 6 times for 30 yards and a
touchdown. Greenfield managed just 18 yards with two
interceptions in the air against Watsonville. That will
have to improve if the Bruins are to notch their first
victory of the season. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
Alvarez High |
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Last
Year |
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Hollister won the
game 16-0 on the field, but later in the season had the
game declared an forfeit due to the use of an ineligible
player. Alvarez was able to limit the Hollister running
game to 130 yards, but the Alvarez offense could
not move the ball against one of toughest defenses in
the CCS. Nick Buzzeta scored an early 4th quarter
rushing touchdown to put the game out of reach. |
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Notes |
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| Both
teams come off of easy preseason wins; Hollister beat
Wilcox 27-12, and Alvarez rolled over Aptos 36-12.
Currently ranked #9 in Northern California, Hollister
senior Steven Salcedo ran for an MBL/MTAL high 142 yards
against Wilcox. Alvarez's Antuone Gamble and Galen Perry
each ran for 100 yards and a score against Aptos. It
will be a difficult task for Alvarez to shut down both
Salcedo and league MVP Nick Buzzeta on offense. On
defense, Hollister features league defensive MVP Alan
Renz, an All-CCS selection at linebacker. One thing in
Alvarez's favor are the numerous injuries to Hollister's
offensive line that have forced some position shifting
by the Balers. |
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| Game
Time: |
2:00 |
Location: |
Stevenson |
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Last
Year |
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Stevenson's Chris
Bonifas ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns as the
Pirates beat Monte Vista Christian 22-6. Stevenson never
trailed in the game, scoring in the first four minutes
on a Bonifas 36 yard scamper, and minutes later on a
safety. Monte Vista Christian scored as time ran out in
the first quarter, but was shut out for the remainder of
the game. |
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Notes |
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| Both
teams come off of shutouts last week: Monte Vista
Christian shut out King City 21-0, while Stevenson was
shut out by Santa Cruz 17-0. Stevenson will have to
contain Monte Vista Christian's David Leach, who
last week ran for 161 and 2 two touchdowns in place of
injured Mustang Marcus Hightower. Hightower is expected
back for Saturday's game. Stevenson will have to put
together some semblance of a ground game -
quarterback Chris Jackson was the leading rusher
for Stevenson with 35 yards. |
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