Monterey Bay Prep Report Article

11/02/01
Gilroy at Salinas	07:30pm
Live Oak At Palma	07:30pm
Alisal At Hollister	07:30pm
Carmel At King City	07:30pm
Stevenson At Soledad	07:30pm
Gonzales At Seaside	07:00pm

11/03/01
Monterey At Alvarez	02:00pm
North Salinas At North County	02:00pm
Pacific Grove At Greenfield	02:00pm

Friday's Games

Gilroy (6-2) At Salinas (5-2-1)

Game Time:	7:30	Location:	The "PIT"
Last Year
Gilroy broke open a tie game with 16 unanswered 4th quarter points to notch a 34-14 win over Salinas. Robert Orlando and Danny Gallo combined for 183 yards and a touchdown on the ground for the Mustangs. Gilroy quarterback Jesus Gaona threw for 201 yards, hooking up with All-MBL wideouts Will Lawrence for 6 catches/88 yards and a touchdown, and Chris Thomas for 3 catches/86 yards.
Notes

The stakes are high for both Salinas and CCS 8th ranked Gilroy, but probably higher for the Cowboys. A loss to Gilroy would set up a final rivalry battle next week with North Salinas for the 5th and probably final MBL playoff spot. A win over Gilroy would most likely lock a playoff spot up for Salinas. Beating a quality opponent is also becoming an issue for the Cowboys. With losses to Palma and Hollister, and a tie to Alvarez, this is Salinas' last chance to beat one of this year's elite MBL teams.

Live Oak (2-6) At Palma (8-0)

Game Time:	7:30	Location:	Salinas Sports Complex
Last Year
Palma battled back from a 22-7 deficit in the 4th quarter to salvage a hard-fought 22-22 tie with Live Oak. The Acorns blocked a 26 yard field goal with under a minute left to prevent a Chieftain victory. The game featured two stellar running performance, with Live Oak's Donnie Murphy rushing for 111 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Palma's Nick Noroian rushing for 110 yards and a score.
Notes

Palma comes into play ranked #8 in Northern California by Cal-Hi sports, and #2 in the CCS by the San Jose Mercury. The Chieftains have to be wary of a letdown coming off of an emotional win over Alvarez last week. Live Oak features one of the top defenses in the league, surrendering the 3rd fewest points in the area (115) . Live Oak shut down the potent Salinas High offense last week, limiting the Cowboys to under 200 yards of total offense for the first time all season. If Palma keeps Live Oak in the game with turnovers and penalties, things could get very interesting. A win by Palma would clinch the Monterey Bay League title. Palma running back Nick Noroian is tied for the area lead with 10 rushing touchdowns.

Alisal (2-6) At Hollister (6-2)

Game Time:	7:30	Location:	Hollister High
Last Year
The Hollister defense pitched a 35-0 shutout, limiting Alisal to 98 yards of offense on the night. Five different Balers reached the end zone, as Hollister substituted early and often. Alisal was limited to 1.75 yards per play by the sections stingiest defense.
Notes

Ranked #10 in the CCS, the Balers have rolled to three straight wins. But Alisal has shown they are capable of playing with anyone in the league this year, and Hollister must not catch itself looking ahead one week to an always-anticipated showdown with Palma. Hollister has not been the unmovable object on defense they were last year, sitting at the bottom-third of the area rankings in yards (2189) and points (144) allowed. The Alisal defense has forced and recovered 17 fumbles; they face a Hollister offense that has only put the ball on the ground 5 times all season - both are tops in the area.

Carmel (6-1) At King City (2-5-1)

Game Time:	7:30	Location:	King City High
Last Year
King City broke a 14-14 halftime deadlock by scored 8 unanswered second half points in a 22-14 victory over Carmel. Mustang running back Delphin Antonio punished the Padre defense for 124 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.
Notes

This is a "must win" game for the Padres if they want to set up a season-ending MTAL championship game next week with league leading Pacific Grove. Carmel running back Toby McLeod leads the area with 839 yards rushing, and will be facing a King City defense this week that is allowing close to 200 yards a game on the ground. Carmel quarterback Pat Johnston has an area-best 9 touchdown passes.

Stevenson (4-4) At Soledad (4-4)

Game Time:	7:30	Location:	Soledad High
Last Year
Stevenson running backs Chris Bonifas (176 yards/ 4TD's) and Wes Connors (124 yards / 1 TD) brutalized the Soledad defense in a 35-15 victory over the Aztecs. The Pirates amassed 388 rushing yards on the day, while the Pirate defense limited Soledad to a paltry 34 yards rushing.
Notes

Both teams are fighting for their playoff lives. Because of a weak preseason schedule, the Pirates will not be receiving an at-large playoff bid, and their slim hopes rest upon Carmel closing out the season with two straight losses. Soledad, on the other hand, played the league's toughest preseason schedule, and if the Bruins end up 6-4 they stand a good chance of accumulating enough power points to receive an at-large bid to postseason play.

Gonzales (2-6) At Seaside (3-4-1)

Game Time:	7:00	Location:	Seaside High
Last Year
Seaside put a 54-7 thumping on Gonzales, scoring extensively in the first 3 quarters before calling off the dogs in the 4th. Seaside running back Brian Holmes had a spectacular game, rushing for 238 yards and 5 touchdowns. Gonzales averted a shutout by punching in a score with 0:27 left in the game.
Notes

Both teams appear to be playing for pride at this point in the season. Seaside's loss to Carmel last week puts them out of the playoff hunt. Gonzales, amid swirling coaching controversy, held off Greenfield for an emotional second win of the season. Both teams have struggled with turnovers, as Gonzales (22) and Seaside (20) rank among the worst in the area in this category. The equalizer for Seaside is that they have forced 20 turnovers, recovering 11 fumbles and intercepting 9 passes. An interesting match- up to watch: the Seaside offense has struggled this year, having the 3rd fewest yards from scrimmage (1425) of any team in the area, while the Gonzales defense has surrendered the 2nd most yards from scrimmage (2585) of any team in the area.

Saturday's Games

Monterey (0-8) At Alvarez (6-1-1)

Game Time:	2:00	Location:	Alvarez High
Last Year
Alvarez was unable to score on offense and fell to the Toreador 19-6. A Ricky Gebin 18 yard interception return accounted for all of the Eagle points. Monterey running back Rodrick Parker rushed for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 79 yard touchdown jaunt in the 1st quarter.
Notes

Monterey again has the misfortune of playing one of the leagues best teams following a loss. Monterey was embarrassed 62-14 last week by Gilroy, one week after the Mustangs lost a heartbreaker to Alvarez. The Toreadors must now face a loaded Alvarez squad that is coming off of an embarrassing 42-7 first loss to league leader Palma. Monterey comes into play this week having surrendered an area-worst 1927 yards rushing, and now faces the task of stopping Alvarez's vaunted running game, among the team leaders with 1877 rushing yards from scrimmage. In the Toreador's favor: Alvarez has never beaten Monterey.

North Salinas (3-5) At North County (2-6)

Game Time:	2:00	Location:	North County High
Last Year
North Salinas prevailed in a 8-0 defensive struggle, scoring a lone 3rd quarter touchdown and then hanging on for the victory.
Notes

A win by North Salinas, coupled by a Salinas loss to Gilroy, would set up a likely showdown next week for a likely 5th MBL playoff spot. The Vikings have kept their hopes alive with one of the area's best defenses, having yielded only 126 points despite the offense turning the ball over a staggering 24 times and ranking dead last in yards from scrimmage (1045). North County has struggled on offense as well, having yet to score a point in the first quarter, and only scoring 11 touchdowns in 8 games.

Pacific Grove (7-1) At Greenfield (1-6)

Game Time:	2:00	Location:	Greenfield High
Last Year
Pacific Grove prevailed 17-8 in a hard hitting MTAL battle. Greenfield gave the Breakers all they could handle, but 3 crucial turnovers spoiled the Bruin's upset bid. In a game lacking offensive standouts, Greenfield's Jeff Fudge rushed for 91 yards on 19 carries.
Notes

The Breaker express keeps rolling through the MTAL. Finally getting healthy, Pacific Grove clicked on all cylinders in a 34-6 victory last week over Stevenson. The return of Trevor Howell and Erick Consiglio have strengthened the Breaker stretch run. Both have now scored touchdowns since returning from injuries suffered in a week 1 loss to Salinas. Howell returned a fumble for a touchdown 2 weeks ago, and Consiglio scored on a 4 yard touchdown run last week. Breaker quarterback Jon Grant leads all area signal callers with 1295 passing yards, having thrown only 3 interceptions in 135 pass attempts. Grant is also PG's 3rd leading rusher, scoring an impressive 9 touchdowns on the ground while racking up 150 yards. Greenfield looks for their first MTAL win of the season.