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Loss aside, Monterey Trail on section radar

By John Gudel, Elk Grove Citizen, 12/16/09, 2:15AM PST

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The letters “U.O.P.” were entrenched in the back of their minds since the day they had to turn in their gear following a first-round loss to Laguna Creek in the 2008 Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

The Monterey Trail High School varsity football team had just finished a 3-8 season, yet all of the players and coaches believed a trip to the University of the Pacific for the 2009 Division I section championship game was a realistic possibility. Players discussed what they needed to do as a team to achieve that goal.

Almost everyone outside of the football program expected Monterey Trail to be better this season, mostly because of returning nearly its entire team and the experience of qualifying for the first time in school history, but nobody expected the unthinkable.

What transpired over the past four months was one of the most surprising seasons in section history. From five games below .500 to a berth in the section championship, Monterey Trail officially put itself on the Division I radar and, in the process, earned a shot at contending for the school’s first-ever section title.

While a 20-2 loss to Nevada Union in rain-drenched Stockton last Saturday ended those dreams, Monterey Trail head coach T.J. Ewing reaffirmed the belief he had in his team even dating back to that playoff loss last season.

“We had a great season,” he said, standing outside the locker room at UOP. “We played 14 games. I don’t see anybody else here. It was us and Nevada Union.”

It’s easy to forget that Monterey Trail is only in its fifth varsity season, especially with the instant success of the Pleasant Grove athletic department. Pleasant Grove, now in its fourth varsity season, had already secured two Delta River League titles and a Division I runner-up before Monterey Trail even had a winning season or a league title.

Pleasant Grove and Monterey Trail shared the Delta River title along with Folsom this season.

But, of those three, Monterey Trail was the only team left standing in the final week of the postseason.

Pleasant Grove and Folsom both lost in their respective semifinals. Folsom blew a 28-point lead in the second half and missed a last-second field goal in a 43-42 loss to Del Oro in Division II. Pleasant Grove fumbled late in the fourth quarter of a 31-28 loss to Nevada Union in Division I.

Monterey Trail was met with moderate resistance from its three previous playoff opponents, including blowouts of Pitman of Turlock and Los Banos sandwiched around a 22-8 win over Burbank. All three of those games were played at Monterey Trail, a locale that had never hosted a Monterey Trail playoff game prior to this season.

Pleasant Grove used that stadium for its “home” playoff games last season in the second round and City Championship.

“It feels good to be the team that people are going to look up to and try to be like that team,” said junior running back Drake Tofi of setting the standard for the football program at Monterey Trail. “Now the next group has something to go and try to be as good as this team.”

Whatever the offseason goals, the season started inauspiciously for Monterey Trail. They opened with a 32-26 road loss at Fairfield, which qualified for the Division II playoffs and lost to defending state champion Grant in the second round.

From there, Monterey Trail swept its remaining four preseason games, beating Elk Grove for the first time at the varsity level and posting three consecutive shutouts. In league, they beat Folsom in overtime on a successful two-point conversion and overpowered Florin and Jesuit and eventual playoff qualifier Sheldon.

The only league loss came at home against Pleasant Grove.

Pleasant Grove lost to Folsom and Folsom lost to Monterey Trail, thus the three-way tie for the league title.

What did this season prove about Monterey Trail football? The answer was simple for senior running back Sedale Hunter.

“That our program works,” he said. “That all of the hard work paid off. It’s a tradition. We’ll pass it on.”

That tradition, as one of the newest schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District, was something that was missing. Until last season, Monterey Trail never truly had a signature win.

That eventually came in Week 9 against reeling Jesuit, which really was only signature by name alone.

But this season was different.

All three losses came against playoff teams - two by one possession. Among the nine wins were Elk Grove, rivals Valley and Florin, Sheldon and Folsom. They also beat Jesuit for a second consecutive season.

A first-round blowout of Pitman was the program’s first-ever postseason win. They never left Mark Macres Stadium until last Saturday.

Playing at UOP was the first road site for Monterey Trail since Week 9. No complaints.

After all, UOP was the place they had planned to visit in mid-December.

“We all talked amongst ourselves after last season and just went over what we wanted to do to get there (UOP),” said Tofi. “We knew we could do it.”

Said Hunter: “We just wanted to take it one game at a time. That’s all we talked about it.”

Slipping below the radar is no longer an option for Monterey Trail. Once the team that opponents circled on their schedules as a “win” is now able to do the same to others.

The process might seem as though it happened overnight, but Ewing is the first to admit that could not be further from the truth.

The secret now is being able to sustain that success, considering Monterey Trail has willingly evolved from the hunter to the hunted.

“We have our work cut out for us,” said Ewing. “We do what we do. We don’t have a lot of Division I players. We just have a good football team.”