• Last year’s record: 7-4 (Central Coast Section Open Division III qualifier)
• Last year’s league record: 6-1 (Monterey Bay League Gabilan division runner-up)
• Last year’s MaxPreps state ranking: 226th
• Coach: Randy Blankenship
• Key losses: Blake Wheeler; was valuable as an option in the passing game, but also made his mark as a kick returner and safety…Alex Austen; the monstrous 6-foot-5, 310-pound offensive lineman is no longer in the trenches for the Mariners, who also lost starting linemen Justin Torres and Joseph Gutierrez-Lee…Will Murphy; the quiet but constant halfback who ran for the third-most yards on the team (443) is no longer around.
• Key possible returners: Marcos Reyes (Sr.); the R-P Player of the Year and MBL-G Offensive M.V.P. is just 332 yards away from the program’s career rushing record on 2,082 yards set by Mike Allshouse…Hayden Mennie (Sr.); a surprise star for the Mariners on the offensive line that quickly turned into their one of their best overall…Josh Powell (Jr.); a perfect fit for the Mariners’ run-heavy attack, Powell ran for 980 yards and four scores on 128 touches last season.
• Notes: Last season was the first time the Mariners failed to win a CCS playoff game since 2011…Aptos (1,409 students) will be the second smallest public school in the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan division, according to USNews.com. Seaside High (1,059) will be the smallest of the seven public schools in the division, which also features Christopher High, Alvarez High, Gilroy High, Salinas High and San Benito High. Palma is the lone private school in the division.
PRESEASON
Templeton High
• When: August 24
• Where: Templeton High
• Last year’s MaxPreps state ranking: 779th
• Last year’s overall record: 2-8
• Last year’s league record: 0-3 (last in Northern Football League of CIF Southern Section)
• Coach: Tyler Lane
• Notes: Mascot is the Eagles…Last year’s 2-8 finish was the second straight losing season for Templeton…Aptos won last year’s meeting at Trevin Dilfer Field, 58-12. Reyes had 132 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the win…Eagles will be without quarterback Morgan Scovell, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for 123 yards in last year’s game. Leading rusher Shane Simonin and quarterback Zack Logan, who closed out the season behind center, will be back.
Aragon High
• When: August 31
• Where: Aragon High
• Last year’s MaxPreps state ranking: 139th
• Last year’s overall record: 10-2 (CCS Open Division II semifinalist)
• Last year’s league record: 4-1 (Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay division runner-up)
• Coach: Steve Sell
• Notes: Dons finally managed to beat the Mariners last season, 28-27, thanks to a missed extra point…Aragon has qualified for the CCS playoffs each of the last seven seasons…All three of the Dons’ top rushers from a year ago will return. Paul Lautaimi, Camron Grant and Francisco Sanchez Borrero combined for 2,329 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground…This will be Aragon’s first game of the season.
Monte Vista Christian
• When: September 7
• Where: Trevin Dilfer Field
• Last year’s MaxPreps state ranking: 529th
• Last year’s overall record: 4-6
• Last year’s league record: 2-5 (Sixth in MBL-Gabilan)
• Coach: Jubenal Rodriguez
• Notes: Jubenal Rodriguez is the new coach at M.V.C. Last season he led the Gilroy High program to the CCS Division V championship and a perfect 13-0 record. He was brought aboard after M.V.C. let go of Bruce Dini just weeks after he completed his first season with the Mustangs… Last year’s meeting between Aptos and M.V.C. was the first time the two had played since 2001. Running back Marcos Reyes ran for a program record 292 yards in a 49-28 victory…M.V.C. graduated its quarterback (Sean White) and top running back (Cody Paresa), but has several weapons back, including receivers Nick Bautista and Daniel Brierley.
PCAL-GABILAN
San Benito High
• When: September 21
• Where: Trevin Dilfer Field
• Last year’s MaxPreps state rankings: 332nd
• Last year’s overall record: 6-5 (CCS Open Division I qualifier)
• Last year’s league record: 4-3 (Fourth in MBL-Gabilan)
• Coach: Bryan Smith
• Notes: San Benito’s playoff appearance last season was the program’s ninth straight…According to the 2017-18 California Basic Educational Data Systems, San Benito is the largest school in the PCAL and fourth largest in the CCS with an enrollment of 2,949… Aptos beat San Benito, 35-12, last season.
Seaside High
• When: September 28
• Where: Trevin Dilfer Field
• Last year’s MaxPreps state rankings: 403rd
• Last year’s overall record: 6-5 (CCS Division IV semifinalist)
• Last year’s league record: 3-4 (Fifth in MBL-Gabilan)
• Coach: Alfred Avila
• Notes: Had a tough time stopping the offenses of the MBL-Gabilan last season, allowing all but two teams to score more than 21 points over four losses…MBL-Gabilan’s Offensive Player of the Year, Demarcus Hawkins, is gone and so is quarterback Ivan Ochoa and stud safety Daniel Sayre. The Spartans do return receiver Roderick Gaskins, who made 28 receptions for 483 yards and six scores…Aptos won last year’s meeting, 47-28.
Alvarez High
• When: October 5
• Where: Alvarez High
• Last year’s MaxPreps state ranking: 588th
• Last year’s overall record: 3-7
• Last year’s league record: 1-6 (Seventh in MBL-Gabilan)
• Coach: Anthony Gonzalez
• Notes: Anthony Gonzalez is the new head coach. A 2004 Alvarez graduate, Gonzalez spent last season as an assistant on Palma’s freshman football coaching staff…Eagles have struggled to compete in each of the last three seasons in an “A” division. They have a combined 4-15 record in the past three seasons…Top rusher Michael Ramirez and quarterback Matt Martinez are gone to graduation….Aptos won last year’s meeting, 42-0.
Gilroy High
• When: October 12
• Where: Trevin Dilfer Field
• Last year’s MaxPreps state rankings: 167th
• Last year’s overall record: 13-0 (CCS Division V champion)
• Last year’s league record: 6-0 (MBL-Pacific division champion)
• Coach: Jacob Newman
• Notes: Jacob Newman is the new coach at Gilroy. Just 24 years old, Newman, a former NCAA Division I football player at Southeastern Louisiana University, has no previous coaching experience. He takes over for Jubenal Rodriguez, who is now at M.V.C….Gilroy was the lone team in the CCS’s southern conference to go undefeated…Although the Mustangs do return the MBL-Pacific’s Offensive Player of the Year, Joseph Barnes, they will be without their top passer Jonathan Castro, change of pace back Christian Rodriguez and best two receivers Braulio Rodriguez and Max Pierce.
Christopher High
• When: October 19
• Where: Christopher High
• Last year’s MaxPreps state rankings: 232nd
•
Last year’s overall record: 11-2 (CCS Division IV champion)
• Last year’s league record: 4-2 (Third in MBL-Pacific)
• Coach: Tim Pierleoni
• Notes: After suffering back-to-back losses to Gilroy and Alisal, Christopher finished off its season with a five-game winning streak in which it outscored opponents by 27 points…The Cougars return their quarterback (Ben Sanford), their top rusher (Tyler Davis) and their best two pass catchers (Joseph Scirigione and Joseph Cupp) from a prolific offense that averaged 34.5 points per game…It will be the first meeting between the two teams…Christopher went 0-12 in its last two seasons in an “A” division.
Palma High
• When: October 26
• Where: Trevin Dilfer Field
• Last year’s MaxPreps state rankings: 289th
• Las year’s overall record: 7-5 (CCS Open Division III semifinalist)
• Last year’s league record: 5-2 (Third in MBL-Gabilan)
• Coach: Jeff Carnazzo
• Notes: Aptos’ win over Palma last season was its first-ever win over the Chieftains…Last season was the first time Palma did not finish on top of the MBL-Gabilan division in the league’s six years of existence…The Chieftains return running back Anthony Villegas and quarterback Grant Sergent. Villegas ran for 1,646 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, while Sergent threw for 1,616 yards and 11 touchdowns to five interceptions.
Salinas High
• When: November 2
• Where: “The Pit” at Salinas High
• Last year’s MaxPreps state rankings: 125th
• Last year’s overall record: 11-3 (CCS Open Division I champion & CIF NorCal Division 4-AA qualifier)
• Last year’s league record: 7-0 (MBL-Gabilan Champion)
• Coach: Steven Zenk
• Notes: Cowboys will be without the Gabilan division’s Offensive (Cody Gentry) and Defensive Lineman of the Year (Noah Habes), the Defensive Player of the Year (Drew Schuler) and Most Valuable Player (Brett Reade)…Aptos’ loss to Salinas last season ended its win streak against league opponents at 37…The Mariners had beaten Salinas in three straight seasons before losing last year.
• Editor’s Note: This entry is part 1 of 6 in a weekly series that will delve in each local high school football program’s schedule. Following alphabetical order, Monte Vista Christian’s breakdown will run in the June 22 edition of the Register-Pajaronian.
