Monterey Trail Needs a Game

[MTsince2004]

Due to a cancellation, Monterey Trail is in need of a game. They can play Friday October 7th, Saturday October 8th, or Friday October 14th.

Anybody, anywhere.

Freedom in Oakley, Inderkum, and Roseville all have openings, but no word yet on whether they will play.

Anyone know of another team with a hole in their schedule? Anywhere from Fresno to Reno, from the Bay Area to the mountains.

 

[MTsince2004]

Antelope, Inderkum, and Roseville have openings in their schedule on one or more of those dates due to the River Valley situation. Anyone have any contacts with those schools?

MT will play anybody, anywhere within a reasonable distance.

 

[pantera-cat]

You might have a hard time scheduling a game in the SJS especially with quantity of wins being a playoff requirement. Game I’d like to see is MT vs Manteca. No use for the Buffs to roll Sierra by 60, maybe Sierra could play Inderkum instead.

 

[Rocknrolus 95361]

You might have a hard time scheduling a game in the SJS especially with quantity of wins being a playoff requirement. Game I’d like to see is MT vs Manteca. No use for the Buffs to roll Sierra by 60, maybe Sierra could play Inderkum instead.

Manteca v Sierra is a VOL league game. Can't drop a league game! MT and Manteca could line up in D2 playoffs. The way they shift teams in and out of divisions? Manteca now D2 so if they win D2 do they get bumped up to D1? I watch these teams play every year. Manteca and Oakdale are solid D3 teams. This year Manteca is year, yes a D2 team. But not most years. This is the last week of the big 3 beating up on the other teams. Next week Oakdale at CC.

 

[MTsince2004]

Neither team can move this year. Manteca is locked into D2. Monterey Trail is locked into D1. The Section decided that during the off-season.

 

[John Mellencamp]

Sonora was supposed to play Amador this week. Have you reached out to them?

 

[MTsince2004]

Sonora was supposed to play Amador this week. Have you reached out to them?

Thanks for the heads up. I'll pass it along.

Sonora is a top notch program, but they are only D6. That might be too much of a size difference on such short notice. I would give them much respect, though if they stepped up.

 

[MTsince2004]

You might have a hard time scheduling a game in the SJS especially with quantity of wins being a playoff requirement. Game I’d like to see is MT vs Manteca. No use for the Buffs to roll Sierra by 60, maybe Sierra could play Inderkum instead.

Manteca and Monterey Trail often scrimmage before the season starts. It's usually pretty entertaining. The Manteca program is run well, for sure.

 

[John Mellencamp]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll pass it along.

Sonora is a top notch program, but they are only D6. That might be too much of a size difference on such short notice. I would give them much respect, though if they stepped up.

For sure, but they may decide an extra home game gate would be worth it if they said they would only play if they hosted.

 

[EN_FB_Alum]

Here is the list of teams I noticed had openings, but they are all quite small or weak programs. The best of the bunch would probably by Del Norte, although they may be a little small.
Del Norte
Richmond
Piedmont
Colfax
El Capitan in Merced
Bret Harte
Stevenson (Pebble Beach)

 

[Rush Creates]

Manteca v Sierra is a VOL league game. Can't drop a league game! MT and Manteca could line up in D2 playoffs. The way they shift teams in and out of divisions? Manteca now D2 so if they win D2 do they get bumped up to D1? I watch these teams play every year. Manteca and Oakdale are solid D3 teams. This year Manteca is year, yes a D2 team. But not most years. This is the last week of the big 3 beating up on the other teams. Next week Oakdale at CC.

MT will stay in D1 if they win out.

Manteca will stay in D2 regardless of losses.

 

[MTsince2004]

MT will stay in D1 if they win out.

Manteca will stay in D2 regardless of losses.

Monterey Trail is locked into D1. They cannot be bumped out this season no matter the enrollment or the record. Manteca is locked into D2 this season. They cannot be bumped down, nor would they be bumped up under any circumstance.

 

[MTsince2004]

Here is the list of teams I noticed had openings, but they are all quite small or weak programs. The best of the bunch would probably by Del Norte, although they may be a little small.
Del Norte
Richmond
Piedmont
Colfax
El Capitan in Merced
Bret Harte
Stevenson (Pebble Beach)

Thank you for making the effort to look into this. The last I heard, the staff had made inquiries with all available and reasonably sized programs. I am not part of the staff, so there is a delay in what is happening at a particular moment versus what I know. However, as of right now it is not looking like the available teams will choose to play.

 

[Rocknrolus 95361]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll pass it along.

Sonora is a top notch program, but they are only D6. That might be too much of a size difference on such short notice. I would give them much respect, though if they stepped up.

Don't sell Sonora short. The only game they have lost is to Oakdale. They have good size on line and good team speed. I feel strange talking up our biggest rival! And if you go there you get to visit Dunleavy Field. Seriously one of the best stadium to watch HS game. Concrete seats. Built an a hillside. You all sit on one side. And the food! The smell wafting around the hillside!

 

[MTsince2004]

As far as I know, we are reaching out to all available teams. I do not know about Sonora specifically. Their open date is for tomorrow. Practically speaking, that might not be workable. There are teams in the area who are D1-D3 and play in larger leagues who we are asking for a game. As of yet, all have declined.

 

[EN_FB_Alum]

As far as I know, we are reaching out to all available teams. I do not know about Sonora specifically. Their open date is for tomorrow. Practically speaking, that might not be workable. There are teams in the area who are D1-D3 and play in larger leagues who we are asking for a game. As of yet, all have declined.

You would think Antelope, Roseville, & Indy would love to replace RV on their schedule. Good luck in finding a game.

 

[larry legend33]

Is it a bad thing to have a bye and take it as a rest and healthy week. You guys have played an incredible schedule and should have a nice playoff run. Is there any value in playing a program you will massacre?

 

[MTsince2004]

Is it a bad thing to have a bye and take it as a rest and healthy week. You guys have played an incredible schedule and should have a nice playoff run. Is there any value in playing a program you will massacre?

It would actually double up our bye week. We will go from Sept 29th to October 21st with no games played. That's a looooooong time off.

And the value isn't so much in the wins or losses. It's the opportunity for our kids, especially seniors, to get that many more reps.

Monterey Trail has been a fairly successful program, but it's not built on D1 players who have multiple offers. The majority of our players are the kind of kid who plays high school football, and that's it. Even the ones who go on to the next level see that that high school is the last chance to play with that simple purity of the non-commercialized joy of the game (for now anyway--that's changing).

To miss one game in the regular season is to miss 10% of the guaranteed chances to do something they love that has a fairly finite window.

I have seen the effort that the coaching staff has made all through Covid and wildfires and anything else thrown at them to get these kids all the opportunities that they can. That Spring of 2021 season was a barnstorming whirlwind with MT setting up games any way they could. We were the only football program in EGUSD to get in five games. Some schools only played one. When smoke canceled the Cosumnes Oaks game last season, the team's parents drove all those kids to play Los Gatos on less than 12 hours notice. Not a lot of staffs would take on that challenge. It wasn't about the wins or losses. It wasn't about ego. It was about the kids getting just a couple more chances on the gridiron.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. I know these players, as I've known all of them throughout the years. Just want the most for them, that's all.

 

[MTsince2004]

Well, last I heard this afternoon is that teams in the area with availability have declined to commit. The opportunity was presented and MT is without a game for tonight and next Friday.

I'm hoping something changes over the weekend, but as of now teams with openings are choosing not to play Monterey Trail.

I will post any updates if I hear of them. Right now, it is just disappointing.

 

[pantera-cat]

Manteca v Sierra is a VOL league game. Can't drop a league game! MT and Manteca could line up in D2 playoffs. The way they shift teams in and out of divisions? Manteca now D2 so if they win D2 do they get bumped up to D1? I watch these teams play every year. Manteca and Oakdale are solid D3 teams. This year Manteca is year, yes a D2 team. But not most years. This is the last week of the big 3 beating up on the other teams. Next week Oakdale at CC.

That worked out great last night, and I don’t care if it’s a league game!! Hope the stats were padded enough. As for league games, DLS doesn’t play SRV this year, I’m sure they’re not upset about possibly getting blown out again.

 

[BigMann08]

Well, last I heard this afternoon is that teams in the area with availability have declined to commit. The opportunity was presented and MT is without a game for tonight and next Friday.

I'm hoping something changes over the weekend, but as of now teams with openings are choosing not to play Monterey Trail.

I will post any updates if I hear of them. Right now, it is just disappointing.

I understand the disappointment for sure…. The available teams don’t want to take that L or risk injury during league, and before playoffs… It’s a testament to how good MT’s program has been….

 

[Sacchiefs]

Well, last I heard this afternoon is that teams in the area with availability have declined to commit. The opportunity was presented and MT is without a game for tonight and next Friday.

I'm hoping something changes over the weekend, but as of now teams with openings are choosing not to play Monterey Trail.

I will post any updates if I hear of them. Right now, it is just disappointing.

Agree, disappointing. I like what MT has done over the years, especially with what seems to be relatively a short number of players every year. Tough kids tho, good program, and I like the coach a lot.

I am curious what your thoughts are for the upcoming game next week with my Pacers. Do you feel the long lay off will have an impact?

Pacers have been playing much better and overall seem much more disciplined than previous seasons. No knock to the competition but they havent played anyone either. Im excited to see Reed developing his players. This will be a major test and hopefully all the makings of a good game with the league title on the line and the last test for both teams before the playoffs get underway.

 

[mistark]

Comes down to coaching discipline on defense vs a team like MT. It takes disciplined coaching & defense to be sound against the good veer and option teams. I'm sure G will cause some havoc and blitz mesh points of the veer but can you play discipline and not tackle the fullback when your responsibility is the qb or pitch back? We always said the stove (fb) is hot. No matter how many times you tell them the stove is hot, sometimes they still got to touch it for themselves. When u touch the hot stove vs MT, their qb or pitch back goes 80 untouched for a td. I'm rooting for Grant to be back and game like this can prove it.

 

[Sacchiefs]

Hot stove! Haha..Love it. That post gave me flashbacks of Al's voice yelling at us in practice everytime we played NU and Roseville. Luckily, as good as those programs were, we had the speed to recover when we made a mistake. Mistakes like that against the MT speedy skill positions, I agree will end badly.

Definitely hoping for a win! But mainly I want to see how Grant will stack up against a, in my opinion, a team that has the potential to make a deep playoff run and possibly win it all.

Not sure how MT will respond with so much time off. Good coaching tho tells me they will be prepared.

 

[MTsince2004]

The time off is always a concern. I trust that Ewing and Arcuri will be lasered focused on keeping the kids at game-peak performance. The simple truth is that Monterey Trail practices game-like situations constantly during the week and ramps up the intensity on a regular basis even when scrimmaging. It's never about getting "fired up," but rather about reproduceable, sustained intensity.

Grant will certainly present the most challenging opponent from the Metro, but MT is accustomed to facing experienced and talented opponents in general. I watched a little of Grant's game against River City and Kennedy. Grant has athletes, they line up quickly and efficiently on both sides of the ball, and they execute the offense/defense with obvious ability. Should be a good game.

 

[mistark]

MT is a bit down from their last 3 or 4 years. I say that, being down for MT is 1 or 2 playoff wins instead of 3 or 4. Still a top notch program that will be prepared for anything Grant throws on defense at them. Imo it comes down to Grant making MT settle for 2 and 3 yrd gains on inside and outside zone, DL don't fly up field, don't get gashed on the counter play. Be smart when they run unbalanced (don't fall asleep for dbl pass or tick play) and lastly the OL for Grant, can they move the ball constantly on the ground vs MT? Imo the Grant OL was bunch mean, massive s.o.b's back in the day that never got enough credit. This Grant team does not have that same size of the recent glory days. Should be a heck of a game and atmosphere

 

[MTsince2004]

Comes down to coaching discipline on defense vs a team like MT. It takes disciplined coaching & defense to be sound against the good veer and option teams. I'm sure G will cause some havoc and blitz mesh points of the veer but can you play discipline and not tackle the fullback when your responsibility is the qb or pitch back? We always said the stove (fb) is hot. No matter how many times you tell them the stove is hot, sometimes they still got to touch it for themselves. When u touch the hot stove vs MT, their qb or pitch back goes 80 untouched for a td. I'm rooting for Grant to be back and game like this can prove it.

The thing about Monterey Trail is that they appreciate 20 plays in a row at four yards a pop just as much as they value an 80 yard gallop. It's all the Veer.

 

[mistark]

Those are cool but 19 more plays to make a mistake. I'm good with 1 play for 80 to the house. 🤣

 

[BigMann08]

Grant hasn’t played very stiff competition. Their lone lost was to an very average Reno High School team, who played semi- disciplined football. The Pacers also held on for dear life after blowing a huge lead against Inderkum, who had a chance to win at the end of the game.

MT is battle tested and will be the best team that Grant has faced all season long. I agree, this will be an opportunity for Grant to show if they are ready to play with the big boys again. A win would be a huge confidence booster for the program.

 

[larry legend33]

It would actually double up our bye week. We will go from Sept 29th to October 21st with no games played. That's a looooooong time off.

And the value isn't so much in the wins or losses. It's the opportunity for our kids, especially seniors, to get that many more reps.

Monterey Trail has been a fairly successful program, but it's not built on D1 players who have multiple offers. The majority of our players are the kind of kid who plays high school football, and that's it. Even the ones who go on to the next level see that that high school is the last chance to play with that simple purity of the non-commercialized joy of the game (for now anyway--that's changing).

To miss one game in the regular season is to miss 10% of the guaranteed chances to do something they love that has a fairly finite window.

I have seen the effort that the coaching staff has made all through Covid and wildfires and anything else thrown at them to get these kids all the opportunities that they can. That Spring of 2021 season was a barnstorming whirlwind with MT setting up games any way they could. We were the only football program in EGUSD to get in five games. Some schools only played one. When smoke canceled the Cosumnes Oaks game last season, the team's parents drove all those kids to play Los Gatos on less than 12 hours notice. Not a lot of staffs would take on that challenge. It wasn't about the wins or losses. It wasn't about ego. It was about the kids getting just a couple more chances on the gridiron.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. I know these players, as I've known all of them throughout the years. Just want the most for them, that's all.

Agree with you. 2 weeks is way to long off.
good luck rest of season. You guys have a really nice program.