The Monterey Bay League Gabilan division title will be on the line this Friday night when Salinas High travels to Aptos High to play the Mariners on Trevin Dilfer Field.
The game is without a doubt a battle of heavyweight teams. Aptos (6-2, 5-0) enters on a five-game winning streak, while Salinas (7-2, 6-0) has won six straight. Both teams’ win streaks have come against league opponents.
Of course, the Mariners’ win streak against league opponents dates back further than just this season. Coached by Randy Blankenship, Aptos has won 37 consecutive league games, 32 of which were during its time as a member of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, a league the Mariners won six years in a row.
The Mariners joined the Gabilan division during the offseason after the SCCAL disbanded for football and have not lost a step, winning their five league games this season by an average of 27 points.
Coached by Steve Zenk, Salinas, meanwhile, is just a win away from its first league championship since 2014. The Cowboys have also looked impressive in Gabilan division action. Last week’s 21-0 win was their fifth league win of 20 points or more this season.
Aptos and Salinas met in the preseason in each of the previous three seasons. The Mariners won all three games by seven points or fewer. The Mariners, however, might still enter Friday as the underdogs.
MaxPreps.com has Salinas ranked ahead of Aptos in the Central Coast Section rankings. The Cowboys are No. 7, while Aptos is No. 10 in the rankings.
The Aptos defense, which last week struggled at times to contain Monte Vista Christian, will have to play its best game of the season in order to limit the explosive Salinas offensive attack.
The Cowboys are a four-headed monster with senior quarterback Brett Reade, senior running back Richard Cerda, senior receiver Jeffrey Weimer and junior running back Mike Cortez. Reade has passed for 976 yards and 11 touchdowns and has also rushed for 843 yards and seven scores. Seven of his passing scores have gone to Weimer, who has 356 yards receiving on the season. Cerda and Cortez, meanwhile, have combined for 933 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.
The Cowboys also have several defensive stalwarts, including junior Nathan Matorella and senior Noah Habes, who have 7 1/2 and 7 sacks on the season, respectively.
Aptos, meanwhile, will have to hope that it can receive another big day from junior running back Marcos Reyes, who tied the program’s single-game rushing record last week with 292 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Aside from Reyes, who has 16 rushing touchdowns on the season, the Mariners will also need big performances from sophomore fullback Josh Powell, junior wingback Bubba Gallardo and senior running back Will Murphy.
Defensively, seniors Blake Wheeler and Desmond Mendoza, juniors Shane Modena and Gallardo and sophomore Vaughn Holland will have their collective hands full trying to contain the Cowboys’ passing attack.
Here’s a look at the rest of the local action happening this weekend:
• Watsonville vs Pajaro Valley, at Cabrillo College, at 7:30 p.m. — Although their chances at a league title and a possible CCS playoff berth are all-but gone, the Watsonville High Wildcatz still have a shot of recording the program’s first winning record since 2009.
A win this week, however, is no guarantee.
The Pajaro Valley High Grizzlies are riding a five-game losing streak, were shutout last week by Alisal High in a 43-0 MBL-Pacific division loss and have struggled with injuries all season. But all of that means absolutely nothing heading into the 11th annual Belgard Kup Game.
Last year, the Grizzlies (1-8, 0-5) also entered the rivalry game against the Wildcatz (5-4, 2-2) on a five-game losing streak but stunned Watsonville, 3-0, on its home turf.
Led by senior running back Evan Delozier, who has 12 rushing touchdowns on the season, the Wildcatz will try to exact revenge this time around in Aptos.
Coached by Ron Myers, Watsonville leads the Belgard Kup Game series 8-2. It had beaten Pajaro Valley, coached by Kevin Cordova, three times in a row before suffering last season’s loss.
Like Pajaro Valley, Watsonville is coming off an ugly MBL-Pacific division loss. The Wildcatz were thoroughly dominated by Christopher High in a 42-14 loss on the road.
This will be the season finale for Pajaro Valley, which had a few shining moments throughout the season but not enough to make some noise in the MBL-P. Seniors Jaylen Carreon, Diego Navarro and Irepan Romero will try to finish out the season with a win.
The Wildcatz, meanwhile, have one game left after Friday. They host Gilroy High on Nov. 9.
• St. Francis at Santa Cruz, Friday at 7:30 p.m. — The St. Francis High Sharks have been a varsity football program since the 2006 season. On Friday night at Santa Cruz High, they’ll have a shot to capture their first-ever league title. A win against the Cardinals (3-5, 3-1) would clinch at least a share of the Mission Trail Athletic League championship for the Sharks (7-1, 4-0).
Before last week, many thought Friday’s game would be a meeting of two teams with unscathed league records but Marina High took it to Santa Cruz in a 36-12 win a week ago.
Because of the loss, St. Francis, coached by John Ausman, is the last remaining undefeated MTAL-C team left and will only need to win one of its final two games to clinch at worst a share of the championship.
The Sharks, however, have a very good chance at winning both Friday night and next week in a makeup game against Soquel High.
St. Francis is easily the highest ranked MTAL-C team in CCS, according to MaxPreps.com. The Sharks are ranked 53rd and the Cardinals are 77th.
St. Francis has won its last five games. Last week against Gonzales, senior Carson Cuzick and juniors Devin McLeod and Andy O’Rourke all ran for more than 100 yards in a 40-27 victory. That hard-running trio has combined for 1,663 yards and 20 touchdowns this season and will need to continue that success this week.
Coached by Bubba Trumbull, Santa Cruz started MTAL-C play with three straight victories but struggled with Marina’s size last week. Quarterback Abram Soriano and running back Johnny Soto, both seniors, scored touchdowns but that was all the Cardinals offense could muster.
• Monte Vista Christian vs. Seaside, Friday at 7:30 p.m. — The Monte Vista Christian Mustangs have advanced to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. If they wish to make it to the postseason for a fourth consecutive season, the Mustangs (4-5, 2-4 in MBL-G) will need to win their regular season finale against Seaside High.
Coached by Al Avila, the Spartans (5-4, 2-4) also have a shot to make the playoffs and will without a doubt try to spoil the Mustangs’ senior night festivities.
Seaside had a two-game winning streak dashed last week against Palma High in a 31-23 loss. The Spartans led 23-14 before the Chieftains scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to win.
Senior running back Demarcus Hawkins has pieced together an impressive season, rushing for 1,239 yards and 18 touchdowns, according to stats kept by MBayPreps.com.
Quarterback Ivan Ochoa has also been solid for the Spartans, who are ranked 27th in the CCS by MaxPreps.com, passing for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns to only five interceptions.
The Mustangs defense will need to step up to the challenge a week after struggling to limit Aptos in a 49-28 loss, which featured 555 yards of offense from the Mariners.
Friday night could very well turn into a shootout and M.V.C., coached by Bruce Dini, is well equipped for one with senior quarterback Sean White and his weapons out wide.
White has passed for 2,153 yards — the most of any player in the Monterey Bay — and has also tossed 19 touchdowns to only six picks. Juniors Nick Bautista and Daniel Brierley have been his favorite targets. Bautista has 1,011 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns, while Brierley has 472 yards and seven touchdowns.
Senior running back Cody Paresa also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark last week and scored his 10th rushing touchdown.
M.V.C., which is ranked 38th in the CCS by MaxPreps.com, has not played Seaside since 2013. The Spartans won that meeting 45-8.
• North Monterey County vs Gilroy, Friday at 7:30 p.m. — The North Monterey County High Condors will get one more chance to play on their brand new all-weather turf field on Friday night when they host Gilroy High, which is trying to clinch at least a share of its first league title since 2009 with a win.
Things have not gone as N.M.C. (2-7, 1-4 in MBL-P) has wanted them to. The Condors have lost five of their last six and will be heavy underdogs against Gilroy (8-0, 4-0), which is ranked 15th in the CCS by MaxPreps.com.
Coached by Jubenal Rodriguez, the Mustangs attack on the ground with senior Joseph Barnes, who had 17 touchdowns on the season before last week’s 43-6 win over Monterey High.
Coached by Sean Gomes, N.M.C. will try to continue to develop its young core of talent led by junior quarterback Joseph Bertao, junior running back Lupe Chavez and junior receiver Abel Ruiz.
The Condors are coming off a bye week and have been held to nine points or fewer in their last two losses.
