Respect is a coined phrase often reiterated within start-up high school athletic programs.

Monterey Trail High School football was no different.

They wanted it. Felt they never got it.

It wasn’t until back-to-back appearances in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship game in 2009 and ’10 that Monterey Trail believed it finally earned it.

After a 4-6 record and missing the playoffs last season, they might have to do it all over again.

Monterey Trail is not just fighting to get back into the Section-title discussion, but merely to get on the radar.

“It was really tough,” said Monterey Trail head coach T.J. Ewing of last season. “We lost a lot of our skill guys. In high school football, you need those guys.”

Even the consecutive title-game appearances didn’t seem to infuse a wholesale interest in the program from its own students. While demands of practices and schoolwork are understandable, Monterey Trail still only had 27 players on last year’s roster.

Ewing said he expects around the same number this year.

Those are on par with programs such as Florin and Valley, albeit closer to the low 20s. Florin and Valley, now both in the Metro Conference, have struggled to remain competitive with the expansion of the Elk Grove Unified School District and open enrollment.

Monterey Trail is slightly different in that regard.

Despite the relatively modest player turnout, they have combined for 25 wins over the last three seasons. 

“If there were 55 kids out there that were fired up and accountable and wanted to play, then we’d keep 55 kids,” said Monterey Trail offensive coordinator Rick Arcuri, also the school’s athletic director. “It’s just not that way.”

Said Ewing: “We are our own school. We know who we are. We are not trying to get everybody to drink the Monterey Trail Kool-Aid. We want the kids that want to be here.”

Offense

The quarterback competition is still undecided. And, according to Arcuri, the starter might not be named until the week of the season opener.

Either junior Donovan Robinson or sophomore Jermaine Bell will be the starter. 

“Whoever doesn’t play quarterback, they’ll play somewhere,” said Arcuri. “They are both really good athletes.”

Robinson was a special teams player on varsity last season, while Bell was the JV quarterback.

Although the quarterback will be a first-year varsity starter regardless, the system remains the same. Arcuri plans to stick with the veer offense, widely regarded as one of the toughest schemes to defend.

He also said with either Robinson or Bell, they might be able to stretch the field on a more regular basis.

“We have some kids that can throw and catch,” Arcuri said. “That could make us more dynamic.”

Robinson did attempt two varsity passes last year, completing one for 40 yards.

Defense

Senior Sterling Powell, one of the top returning players in the Delta Valley Conference, led Monterey Trail in tackles last season with 86.

He also forced four fumbles, had one fumble recovery and one interception.

“We feel like last year’s team represented our school well and played to the best of their ability,” Ewing said. “At the end of four quarters, we feel like we gave them everything we had.”

Villami Umufuke, also a returning senior, is a two-way starter on the offensive and defensive lines. He posted 31 tackles and one sack last season.

Monterey Trail allowed 24.7 points per game in 2011.

Coach

Ewing is the only varsity head football coach in school history.

Monterey Trail had never qualified for the playoffs prior to the 2008 season. Since, they have reached the postseason in three of the last four years.

“We expect a lot from our players, and the players expect a lot from themselves,” Ewing said.

In 2009, the Mustangs advanced to the program’s first-ever Division I final, losing to Nevada Union 20-2 in muddy field conditions at UOP. The next season, they returned to the Section title game, this time losing to Pleasant Grove, 21-6.

In those two years, Ewing guided Monterey Trail to a 21-7 combined record – the best two-year span in school history.

Schedule

Monterey Trail is one of three Elk Grove-area teams with a bye the first week of the regular season.

The previous two years, Monterey Trail had played Pleasant Grove in Zero Week. The finale of that two-year contract was broadcasted nationally on ESPN2, the first-ever appearance for an Elk Grove school.

After a Zero-Week bye this season, Monterey Trail will then play 10 consecutive weeks to wrap up the regular season.

“We are not looking at it as a bye week,” said Arcuri. “It’s more of an extra week to our training camp.”

One of the highlights of the schedule is Monterey Trail’s annual rivalry game with Florin, where the winner receives the Mark Macres Memorial trophy.

Valley, another Elk Grove-area school, was also added to Monterey Trail’s non-conference schedule.

Prediction (5-5 overall, 2-3 league)

Monterey Trail might be the dark horse in the Delta Valley Conference this season. Of the three projected bottom teams – along with Davis and Laguna Creek – Monterey Trail seems to be the best option to sneak into the top three.

That all depends on how the young talent responds, according to Arcuri.

As he said, sometimes sophomores play “great” for three plays and then the next play they play “like a sophomore again.”

“We still probably never pass the eye test when we get off the bus,” Arcuri said. “Whether it’s the amount of kids we have, the 6-4 kids or the 300 pounders.”

If Monterey Trail plans to return to the postseason for the fourth time in five seasons, they must capitalize on the early portion of its schedule.

Entering league play at no worse than 3-2 is a must, 4-1 is preferred. Even so, nothing is concrete at that point.

Getting off to a 2-0 start in the DVC is imperative because they finish with Grant, Elk Grove and Franklin in succession.

Six total wins usually gets a team into the playoffs. Monterey Trail could be a borderline playoff team in the final month of the regular season.